Happiness, When Shared, Is Doubled

The story goes like this…

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room’s only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would describe to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young couples walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn’t hear the band, he could see it in his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

One morning the nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window. He had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the beautiful park and lake outside. He strained and slowly turned to look out the window beside his bed.

It faced a blank wall.

When the nurse returned, the man asked the nurse why his deceased roommate had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said,

“Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.”

There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations.

Happiness when shared is doubled.

“Author unknown”

Korn/ Ferry's ProSpective Assessment

Managing Diverse Relationships:
"You seek out people with different points of view and different backgrounds. Even though you acknowledge that it takes a little more time and more deliberate communication, you see the value that a diversity of perspectives and experiences contributes. You are open and collaborative. You share and communicate well. You seek to understand, accommodate, and leverage differences...


Managing Diverse Relationships is significantly related to getting promoted at the manager and executive levels. The skill level for most people is high, and it is moderately difficult to develop. Relating well and collaborating with people who have different points of view and different backgrounds and experiences can enhance and sharpen your contribution at work."

Guidance To Live By

Before you speak:

T: is this True?
H: is this Helpful?
I: is this Inspiring?
N: is this Necessary?
K: is this Kind?

Building A Brand

How do you propose to build a brand?

I feel that this is one of the hardest questions to ask.  It is hard because everyone has their own views on what makes a good brand.  What makes a brand memorable? What sparks that desire and perceived quality?  How do you instill the values, mission, and culture of your brand, not only in your internal employees, but the customer base as well?  The ones on the top of the mind are consistency, and persistency.  You must persistently be consistent with your message. Simple right?  Wrong!  As a leader, one of the hardest obstacles is getting everyone on your team to believe in the company and the brand as a whole.  Employees are THE biggest advocates for a brand.  Second is the customers.  Can you believe that I just said that the customer is SECOND?  Think about it...if your employees are not passionate or do not believe in your brand, those emotions and lack of passion will transfer to the customer experience.  Pay attention to your employees and the internal culture of your company to effectively convey your brand to your customers.

-Scott

Great Advice!

Rowel Manasan's
"Straight Talk" Personal Strategy
Advice From My Dad

My Dad said a lot over the years, giving me some valuable lessons.

I'm attempting here to summarize his thoughts...so call this a paraphrase of Dad's Life Wisdom:

* The bank is not your financial security. The best credit line available is the one attached to your emergency savings fund. Remember, the borrower is slave to the lender, and you don't want to be a slave to big banks. Take my word for it!

* Don't depend on government for making your life easy. In an emergency, don't be too proud to accept help, but do not make it a way of life.

* You can't depend on schools to provide your full education. You must self-educate beyond the lessons taught in school. Challenge your educators, and challenge your own thoughts. Read books. Read books contrary to your own opinion, so that you may learn another point of view. Read books on subjects you don't think you care about and you just may discover your passion.

* Getting rich rarely comes quickly. Building wealth takes time, and a lot of hard work. If you want to be successful in anything, you must work at it for hours every day - sometimes late into the night, and early in the morning. If you are happy with mediocrity, punch the clock after 8 hours, plop down in front of a television and waste valuable time until you fall asleep. Repeat this process until the weekends when you can do even more of the same.

* Be skeptical. Don't believe everything you read, most things you hear, and even a few things you see with your own eyes. Question everything. Nothing in life is black and white.
I'm personally dedicated to the success of your family, Scott! Can other lawyers say that?
With affection,

Rowel Manasan

Brag About Yourself

How do you build credibility with your customers?  Do you tell illustrative stories describing the problem, the solution, and the outcome?  Do you provide customer recommendations?  How about third party written publications in books, magazines, newsletters, and other print media?  

Credibility can make or break a deal before it even gets started.  Whether we like it or not, people judge, people stereotype, and people like routine.  To break that routine and to make it past the stereotypes and pre-judgments, sales professionals need to instill credibility to comfort the customer.  Only then, can the closing process begin.  Yes, the closing process.  The sales process began when you stuck out your hand, said hello, and woke up this morning.  How you sell yourself is in attitude, appearance, and knowledge.  However, it is the outward attributes that people see first.  Therefore, people are very much visual creatures.  What this means, is that illustrative stories play to this idea of visualization, and are important to build credibility.  Be a story teller.

Scott

Scott Kueny
Ticor Title Company of California
820 N. Mountain Ave., Ste. 100
Upland, CA 91786

When To Say When

Until this day, I have always said that college is the one time in a persons' life where they can change who they are.  High school is often the time where a person needs to fit the mold set by their peers, or face ridicule and excile from their group of friends.  College is when an individual can more easily seperate from those ties, because it is socially acceptable,  anticipated, and known that connections will be lost.  Therefore, a person can reinvent themselves with little or no effort.  They are going into a new environment where there are new people, no preconceived notions, and a person can be someone new.  In my personal experience, that was taking my focus off of school sports, and focusing more on school involvement and academic clubs.  We all have opportunties for change, but the ease at which thoser changes occur changes as time progresses.

The reason I write this post is two fold, the first being that I spoke with someone this morning that has hit an occupoational plateau, and the second is that I witnessd the transformation of a 398 pound 49 yearold to a 198 pound 50 yearold.  The pofessional that has hit the plateau loved the real estate industry.  He has been active for nearly 20 years, but now dislikes the industry.  When you lose your passion, no amount of effort will produce the results that a person desires, or knows that they can acheive.  It seems that he has spent too much time doing one career, and with the current state of the economy, he has noticed his discomfort.  That is life knocking on his door to change. 

The second example was on television this last Sunday.  On Extreme Makeover, there was as gentleman that wished for his 50th birthday to be the normal weight for a 50 yearold man.  He was taken under the care of the television show, and dedicated a full year to his wish.  He exceeded his goal of weighing in at 199 pounds, and posted a 198 pound weight on his birthday.  The amazing thing above the and beyond his amazing weight loss, was the perciverance that was exuded throughout the course of the year.  He separated from his fiancee, he was homeless, he lost his son to medical complications, and still he triumphed.  This story that was played out over the 1 hour television show was the perfect illustration of how change becomes harded as life progresses, but is by no means impossible.

I share these two stories because nothing is impossible.  Change may be harder at certain times, but if you focus on it, then you become it.  Focus on what truly matters most to you and go for it.  You will make sacrafices, and it will be difficult, but the outcome/s will certainly be worth it.  There is a classic phrase, "The darkest hour is just before the dawn."  Things will be harder before they are better.  Keep your nose to the road, have faith and hope, and believe that anything is possible.  Go make it happen!

Scott

To Tell Or Not To Tell?

As a salesperson, our greatest asset is the value that we bring to our customers.  If a sales person positions themselves based on price, then they will always lose (someone is always coming in with a lower price...always).  I try to bring value through my knowledge of upcoming industry events and news.  It is this value that I bring which sparks this post.

I would like to put it out there for comment, the question of where do you draw the line?  How much do you give away before sacrificing your value?  Let me illustrate; The other day I sent out information regarding industry statistics and trends via text message.  I receive a reply back asking, "Where can I go to get that information?"  When I saw this text, I hesitated, and almost didn't want to respond.

Should I disclose my source?  Of course any good student, researcher, or person making claims needs to back those claims up, but this is how I positioned myself to bring value.  If I disclose my source, then what is to stop them from going to the source themselves, thereby making me useless, according to my value proposition.  To all of those wondering, I gave her my source, and now I am looking for another way of bringing this customer value.  What would you do?