The National Western…

If it’s January; and it’s Denver; then it’s the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo!  Ever been?  I love being around farmers, ranchers, cowboys, and horse people.  I love their values of God, country, and family.  I love their work ethic, centered around kids, crops, and critters.  I love their commitment! 

We can learn a lot from cowboy wisdom: 

Don’t squat with your spurs on. 

Never drink downstream from the herd. 

                   Texas Bix Bender 

My wife is a horse person; my younger son, his wife, and my granddaughter, too.  Coming from the Chicago suburbs, I live with a whole different “herd” now: 

My husband said if I don’t sell my horses, he will leave me.  Some days I miss him. 

Unknown Sage 

My wife was the National Western’s embroiderer.  Over the course of a 16-day, 8am to 10pm, non-stop stretch, she would embroider 100+ champion coats for the Events Center equestrian event winners.  That along with operating her booth making personalized horse halters, dog collars and leashes… 8am to 10pm;16 straight days; non-stop.  That’s commitment! 

My favorite National Western event each year is the draft horse competition.  On the surface, the audience sees the power and beauty of the teams.  They certainly exemplify western values as written about in James P. Owen’s book, Cowboy Ethics ©: 

Ride for the brand. 

Those in the know appreciate what it takes below the surface.  Talk about commitment!  The training hours alone preparing to compete in a venue such as the National Western Stock Show & Rodeo are indescribable.  Not to mention the small fortune required. 

In this picture from 2018 there are 14, 6-draft-horse teams (That’s about 84 tons of horse!). You’re also looking at

          over           eight           million          dollars!           

Here’s my math:  $105,000 for tack (42 sets of harnesses, hitches, and reins x $2,500 per set; 3 pairs per team - 2 horses are the wheel team; 2 horses are the swing team; and 2 are the lead team, all with special fitting, matching tack); 14 show wagons with trailer @ $25,000 each = $350,000; 14 pick-up trucks to haul the show wagon trailers @ $70,000 each = $980,000; 14 tractor-trailers to haul the 84 draft horses @ $110,000 each = $1,554,000; and 84 show draft horses @ $60,000 each average public auction price = $5,040,000. All in, that’s $8, 029,000. 

Those millions don’t cover the cost of hay (50 pounds of hay per horse per day x 84 horses x $5 per pound x 365 days = $7,665,000); plus grain (50 pounds of grain per day…); plus shoeing… plus veterinarian … plus fuel for the vehicles for hauling… plus, plus, plus.  And that’s in 2018 dollars! 

The $2,500 prize money for the 1^st place team (along with two “Champion” jackets provided by the National Western Stock Show and embroidered by my wife) was certainly not the reason these folks competed. 

While others watched NFL playoffs on TV, these teamsters were filling water troughs; grooming horses; polishing tack and wagons; mucking manure.  They all know one another and enjoy visiting with fellow competitors.  While caring for their critters, they even eat their meals in the barn.  Commitment! 

Western folks are committed to our U S of A, too.  During the National Western, at the start of every day, as well as before each rodeo, everyone stands and “removes cover” for the singing of our National Anthem. 

Yep – I love the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo! 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Highly Sensitive?

Each day can be a real test for sensitive types, true?  If you are a highly sensitive person; you’re not alone.  According to “Nine Signs You’re a Highly Sensitive Person” published in “Productivity, What Inspires Me”: 

Sensitive people get a bad rap. Research suggests that genes are responsible for the 15–20% of people who qualify as “highly sensitive.” … who experience sounds, feelings, and even the presence of other people much more intensely than the average person. 

“…much more intensely…” I love that!  Intensity and sensitivity applied together creates a tremendous advantage. 

Back to the article: 

Highly sensitive people’s strong emotions are easier to identify (and potentially use to their benefit) than the average person …

 The Highly Sensitive Person:

1. You think deeply.

When life throws you a curveball, you retreat deep into your shell, thinking through every aspect of what transpired before taking any action. Small things (in your own life and other people’s lives) can have a big impact on you.

2. You’re detail-oriented.

You’re as sensitive to details as you are to feelings. You see details that others miss, and you aren’t content until you’ve dotted all the i’s and crossed the t’s. This is a strength that is highly valuable in the right profession.

3. You take longer to reach decisions.

Since you’re prone to dig deep beneath the surface, you tend to drag out decisions. You can’t help but try to run every possible outcome through your head, and this is often at the expense of the ticking clock.

4. You’re crushed by bad decisions.

When you finally make a decision, and it turns out to be a poor choice, you take it much harder than most. This can create a vicious cycle that slows down your decision-making process even more, as fear of making a bad decision is part of what slows you down in the first place.

5. You’re emotionally reactive.

When left to your own devices, you have a knee-jerk reaction to your feelings. You also have strong reactions to what other people are going through. When your emotions come on strong, it’s easy to let them hijack your behavior.

6. You take criticism harshly.

Your strong feelings and intense emotional reactions can make criticism hard to take. Though you may overreact to criticism initially, you also have the tendency to think hard about things and explore them deeply. This exploration of criticism can play out well for you in the long run, as your inability to “shrug it off” helps you make the appropriate changes.

7. You work well in teams.

Your unique ability to take other people’s feelings into account, weigh different aspects of multifaceted decisions, and pay attention to the smaller details makes you extremely valuable in a team environment.

8. You have great manners.

Your heightened awareness of the emotions of other people makes you highly conscientious. You pay close attention to how your behavior affects other people and have the good manners to show for it. You also get particularly irked when other people are rude.

9. Open offices drive you crazy.

Your sensitivity to other people, loud noises, and other stimuli makes it practically impossible for you to work effectively in an open-office environment. You’re better off in a cube or working from home.

You may not align with all nine attributes but if these “ring true” you may be a highly sensitive person.  I salute your intensity! 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Warriors…

Welcome to the new year!  I hope it’s your best year yet.  Not sure how it will go?  Worried about a recession; global warming; road rage; and all of the frights we deal with every day - real or imagined?  Me too. 

The good new is we reached 2023 because we overcame those daily frights, real or imagined, in 2022 and years before.  Let’s tune into that great, inner strength again this year.  Let’s be warriors! 

Fate whispers to the warrior, "You cannot withstand the storm." The warrior whispers back, "I am the storm." 

Unknown Sage

Odds are we will experience adversity in 2023.  Facing adversity makes us better; helps us win.  It dates back to ancient times: 

ADVERSITY: 

Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant. 

Horace 

Of course, how they persevered in Roman times may not transfer to who we need to be today.  What inner strength should we summon to succeed in 2023?  Dare we claim to be a “warrior”?  The Daily Bible Verse suggests this alternative: 

Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city. 

Proverbs 16:32 

Both ancient references associate the term “warrior” with it’s origin from the word “war”.  Let’s not literally go to war in 2023, OK?  I prefer the broader definition found in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary ©: 

Warrior (noun): a person engaged in some struggle or conflict 

Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!

To be fair, there are those who struggle to win and then there are those who “struggle”!  Regardless, winning by overcoming our struggles is best accomplished by keeping our patience and perhaps our perspective, too.  As you know, I profess there is both peace and power in maintaining a positive perspective. 

David S. Pottruck provides this positive perspective of a winning struggle in the face of competition; emphasizing what truly matters in life: 

Let your imagination put you in a grandstand at the Seattle version of the Special Olympics.  There are nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line for the 100-yard dash.  At the gun, they all start out, not exactly in a dash, but with relish to run the race to the finish and win.  All, that is, except one boy who stumbles on the asphalt, tumbles over a couple of times, and begins to cry.  The other eight hear the boy cry.  They slow down and look back.  They all turn around and go back… every one of them.  As you watch, one girl with Down’s Syndrome bends down and kisses him.  You hear her say, “This will make it better.”  All nine link arms and walk across the finish line together.  Everyone in the stadium, including you, stands up, and the cheering goes on for several minutes.  People who were actually there are still telling the story, four years later.  Why?  Because deep down we know this one thing:  What matters in this life is helping others win, even if it means changing our own course.                   

I love stories of people who face their struggles and overcome conflicts.  I love people who are tenacious; relentless; and unwavering in the face of adversity.  I love winners.  And I love those who help others win! 

It’s easy to say; might be hard for us to do in 2023.  But 

Do           we           will 

because we know what matters.  Afterall, we are warriors! 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Customer Service?

I don’t mean to trigger negativity; lots of things are going wrong these days.  You, me, and Roger?  Well, we have a choice: 

If things go wrong, don’t go with them. 

Roger Babson 

My wife is a seller on Amazon Handmade.  If you buy on Amazon you might not know that Amazon controls all correspondence between buyers and sellers.  The seller cannot directly contact a buyer – all emails and phone calls flow through Amazon’s computers; text is not available.  Soo, if there is a problem with a customer’s order AND if there’s a problem with the seller’s account on Amazon, that combination creates a real problem. 

Now this particular problem was miniscule when compared to the words “Southwest Airlines” but to my wife who has maintained a perfect, on time shipping record with Amazon for the past four years and received exclusively 5-star reviews from her customers, the problem was anything but miniscule. 

On December 17^th, due to suspected credit card fraud on her account, Amazon locked her out of her seller’s log-in plunging my wife into Amazon’s technology abyss.  To get through to Amazon Seller Customer Service she first had to log into her account; Amazon had locked her out of her account; no other Amazon Customer Service department could help her. 

Every single day for the next 12 days she received an email from Amazon’s computers  instructing her to log into her account and rectify the discrepancy.  Every single day for the next 12 days she replied to Amazon’s computers plus called Amazon’s Customer Service department re-informing them that first they had to unlock her account access.  

Every           single            day… 

But one thing for sure; when you wrestle with a 500-pound gorilla, you rest when the gorilla wants to. 

Unknown Sage 

Meanwhile… she had this personalized horse halter order for a new customer in Georgia.  She had sent the finished halter prior to December 17^th, but the customer (emailing through Amazon’s computers) said she didn’t receive it.  (The package was probably sitting among the airline baggage we all saw pictures of.) 

My wife decided to make a replacement but; she didn’t have the customer’s contact information or order details (all that was stored in the Amazon computer she was locked out of).  She did have a copy of the customer’s delivery address. 

Googling the customer’s name and address amazingly a phone number and email appeared.  Unfortunately, that contact information must have been outdated; her call wouldn’t go through and her email bounced.  However, Google listed neighbors of her customer and their phone numbers.  My wife started calling.  Undaunted, she called until reaching someone. 

To that someone, my wife explained why she was trying to contact this person’s neighbor.  She was convincing enough that this good Samaritan gave my wife her neighbor’s number and said she would text her neighbor to let her know my wife would be calling.  When my wife called; her customer answered.  My wife explained why she was going around Amazon’s computers; and the customer provided the specifics of the horse halter she originally ordered. 

My wife manufactured the replacement halter and drove it directly to the post office for delivery within two hours of that call.  The customer’s horse halter (a Christmas gift for her 16-year-old daughter) was now in USPS’ (and God’s) hands. 

On December 23^rd the customer informed my wife she received her daughter’s gift and all was well. 

Now THAT’s what I call Customer Service! 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Bold? Courageous? Or…

It’s 2022 year-end.  Time to reflect?  Time to plan and prepare for 2023?  Time to quit and change jobs? 

I continue to read about people quitting their jobs in search of “better”.  Are those in that movement bold?  Courageous?  Self-confident?  “Betting on themselves”?  Or not.  I’m permanently out of the game, having retired in 2022.  So now I’m just an observer; a sideline commentator. 

I’ve noticed many of my former colleagues at my last company have changed companies; several times actually, all just in the past couple of years even before I retired. Would you call that courage?  Would you assume they are seeking “better”?  Shall we assume because they keep quitting they’re still seeking? 

“Stay and make a difference” was the advice I offered for those who asked my opinion.  Having sought “better” many times over, I successfully tried that myself for the last twelve years of my career.  It was tempting to quit, but I decided for once not to.  I decided my friend Robyn Nicholson was right in her assessment of continuously changing jobs: 

            Same circus; different clowns. 

I know there is risk in staying at your current company and trying to “make a difference”.  Truth is, there is danger in any direction we select for 2023: 

Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure.  The fearful are caught as often as the bold. 

Helen Keller 

Truly, I held various jobs for several companies throughout my career.  I too changed to something “better” many times.  Mostly “greener pastures”; occasionally “browner”.  Was I being bold? Courageous?  Or not. 

Courage doesn't always roar.  Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow." 

Mary Anne Radmacher

I learned about the importance of “trying again tomorrow” from a friend and former colleague of mine, Gary Givan.  His advice was to focus on each day; making the day a good day; taking things one day at a time.  Gary would say when you string together as many good days as possible the rest of the year will take care of itself.  Gary’s wasn’t a bold, risk-taking approach.  More of a quiet, disciplined, yet courageous mind set. 

I was willing to take risks, that’s for sure.  But perhaps taking risks was the easy way out.  Rather than facing up to each day’s challenges; striving to get better; figuring out a way to conquer; is it easier to just quit in the name of finding something “better”?  Staying with our current job takes courage, too: 

Courage is a special kind of knowledge; the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how to not fear what ought not to be feared. 

David Ben-Gurian 

Should our current situation be feared?  Are we afraid we might miss out if we don’t leave at the end of 2022 in pursuit of our next adventure in 2023?  Well, only each of us would know what is best for our individual situation, but the odds are we should not fear staying vs. quitting.  In reality, either option will require steadfast, daily commitment to succeed. 

So here’s to your success in 2023!  Be bold! Be courageous! Be fearless no matter who winds up signing your paycheck.  Take each day, one day at a time, and focus on getting better today.  May the wind of your effort fill your sails, speeding you towards “better” in 2023 and beyond. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Christ’s birthday…

It’s Christmas eve!  Of course, Christmas is more than just one day, true?  Nonetheless, I’m wishing you a day of peace, hope, joy and celebration with family and friends. 

Whatever our spiritual beliefs, may each of us find meaning to our life during this season in a way that lasts throughout the entire year.  While we may not want to look back and celebrate all of what’s happened in 2022, I’m sure we are looking forward to a better 2023! 

Lest there be any confusion, may we be reminded of that which was important this year, and that which wasn’t. 

We are reminded by bankers to be of good cheer: 

A little boy received a new drum for Christmas.  Shortly thereafter, his father came home from work and the mother told him, “I don’t think the man upstairs likes to hear Georgie play his new drum, but he’s certainly subtle about it.”  “How do you know”? asked the father.  “Well, this afternoon he gave Georgie a knife and asked him if he knew what was inside the drum.” 

Herbert Prochnow

We are reminded by the gospel to be satisfied with who we are not what we bought: 

You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are – no more, no less.  That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought. 

Matthew 5 

We are reminded by the novelists to remember (and be thankful for) our “fortunes”: 

Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. 

Charles Dickens 

I am reminded to offer His blessings to you and yours from me and mine. 

“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!” 

GAP

Recognition…

In my opinion, we all have time to offer recognition and positive reinforcement to those in our lives.  Permit me to take another moment and recognize you! 

I know how busy you are; and Lord knows the volume of incoming emails, texts, phone calls, and other interruptions you face each day.  So again, THANK YOU for choosing to read me! 

Speaking of thank-yous and of recognition… 

I have written often about the motivational power of recognition in the business world.  I continue to believe it is one of the most under-leveraged and perhaps even misunderstood tools available to managers, coaches, and leaders.  That may be especially true during these times of “work-at-home” settings and "quiet quitting" employees.  What do you suppose your best employees are up to at this very moment? 

Re-Recruiting… 

If you’re not recruiting your best people; you’re the only one who isn't. 

                   Beverly Kaye 

I know wage increases get a lot of publicity these days, but is that the only way to retain employees?   In the book, Love 'Em or Lose 'Em © Rosabeth Moos Kanter offered: 

Compensation is a right; recognition is a gift.

Take the sales profession for instance.  The novice believes money drives performance.  Study after study has shown money doesn’t even make the top 10 in what drives sales behavior.  I suspect that holds true with many professions. 

Performance can be propelled in other ways.  Recognition is powerful, but only if it is offered.   Back to Love 'Em or Lose 'Em © and Beverly Kaye: 

A study of more than 4,000 businesses across Australia and New Zealand found that three-fourths of employees are starved for recognition, receiving it from their managers only monthly, quarterly, or once a year.  And 11 percent received no praise at all! 

Warren Bemis added: 

Think about how you felt the last time someone thanked you.  If it feels so good to receive it, why would we so often fail to give it?  So many otherwise able managers act as if compliments come out of their bank accounts. 

Is this a common phenomenon in your world?  Do your managers give positive reinforcement frequently?  Or have they become so busy; so automated; so inundated; so robotic; they don’t easily pause to say, “Thank you for your work” very often? 

Of course, there are many ways to offer genuine recognition to employees.  Take patience and the opportunity to learn from one’s mistakes as an example.  It works for even the most high-powered executives: 

A senior manager made a mistake that cost his company $10 million.  As he walked into his boss's office, he anticipated anger and most probably a firing.  His boss asked him what he had learned from the mistake, and he quickly listed all the things he would do differently next time.  Then he waited for the ax to fall.  And he waited.  Finally, he asked, "Aren't you going to fire me?"  The boss answered, "Why would I fire you?  I just invested $10 million in your learning. 

Harry Beckwith

Getting back to top salespeople for a moment, it’s been my experience that they in particular are not motivated (or retained for that matter) by mere money.  However, I have never met a successful sales rep who didn’t shine upon receiving recognition.  I bet this principle applies to all types of employees; readers too! 

So, thank you again for reading my periodic posts.  It’s the type of recognition any author (especially this one) appreciates. 

                                                            GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.