Lessons I Learned from Irma

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Lessons Learned From Irma


I have seen many storms in my life. Most storms have caught me by surprise, so I had to learn very quickly to look further and understand that I am not capable of controlling the weather, to exercise the art of patience and to respect the fury of nature.  - Paulo Coelho


In 1960, the year before I was born, Hurricane Donna hit Naples, Florida with all of its fury. Similar in wind speed to Irma, the eye came right through southern Florida, and my dad, mom, brother and sister rode out this Cat 3 + storm, which  packed a wallop of Max 145 mph winds. Both my mom and my brother Jim have conveyed to me how the walls of our little wood  frame house moved back and forth during the storm. When the eye of storm approached and everything was calm, my dad drove my brother to Vanderbilt Beach to check out the water. To their amazement, they discovered that the Beach was bone dry, as the hurricane had sucked all of  the water out to sea. They rushed back to the house to ride out the other half of the storm. It returned with a vengeance, along with a formidable storm surge. My mom recalls that our yard looked like a war zone after Donna had past- littered with boats, refrigerators , construction debris, and palm branches . Suffering only partial roof damage, my family was thankful to come out of Donna alive. I was in the “ oven” at the time, so I wasn't too worried about it !


Now Irma, on the other hand, was a different story. Similar in intensity to Donna, as far as the potential for damage ( yet with its sheer size, Irma caused greater havoc), Irma posed a major threat , because it was my wife and my son in our own frame  house enduring a Cat 3 storm. It is easy for me to remain aloof at other people's hardships until the trouble comes to my doorstep . At the end of the day, when Irma had passed through central Florida, and during the aftermath of the clean up,  several thoughts came to me.


Nature needs to be respected.
Considering the infinite amount of information and technology that we process and utilize each day, the weather serves as a poignant reminder that humans cannot control everything in this world. Waking up at 4:00 AM to listen to 100 mph winds whip past our home like a bullet train was an unforgettable experience. Being proactive when we know bad weather is coming is much different than being reactive when we've procrastinated under a false sense of security. Who would've ever predicted the disastrous flooding in Houston caused by hurricane Harvey ? Who ever imagined rivers cresting in Florida, creating so much damage ? Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Respect nature.


Consumerism affects us all.
My head is still spinning over how fast stores emptied out of food and water, and how gasoline for our automobiles and generators seemed to dry up overnight. We knew people who waited for hours in gas lines before and after Irma hit central Florida. This was a reality check for me revealing just how fragile our consumer system hangs in the balance. I plead guilty on the fact that I have taken for granted the luxuries of western life. I assume that  when I reach for a wall switch and click it, that lights will appear. I don't think twice about holding my glass under the water dispenser, expecting clean water to fill my cup. And of course, I naturally assume that I can move from my air conditioned car to my climate controlled home. Yet all of this could be gone in an instant - and was ( and still is for some people) !


Catastrophes help us evaluate priorities.
If a Cat 5 storm was barreling towards your hometown, would you know where all of your important papers and documents are ? Have you stocked up on extra non perishable food items, and set aside containers of drinking water? When our children were young, forest fires approached the back of our house one Sunday afternoon. We woke up from a nap, awakened by the smell of burning pine trees.I remember my wife and I grabbing our kids, the pets, and our wedding album before evacuating. The things we take with us in the event of an emergency are telling. Thank God the fire was contained and our home was not damaged. If you had to leave your home at the last minute, what would you take with you? What would be of greatest importance to you ? Situations like hurricane Irma help us evaluate what we value most in life. At the end of the day, except for some sentimental items, most material stuff can be replaced; but people and relationships are priceless.


Community happens in the midst of disaster.
I have witnessed this phenomenon several times in my life, and after hurricane Irma was one of them. I'm referring to true community. People helping people. Unsolicited. Unprovoked.Generous compassion. Genuine concern for one another. Like my neighbors across the street from Minnesota who had never experienced a hurricane before- they were some of the first people to venture outdoors after the storm had passed. After they picked up most of their yard, they started on ours, helping clear the entrance to our subdivision. Another neighbor showed up with a chainsaw, and we all worked together in tandem. While our Minnesota friends were assisting an elderly lady around the corner; another neighbor who owns a hardware store, replaced the Minnesota peep’s broken pvc piping on their well. The hardware neighbor was helped by a friend who has a landscape business, who broke out his chainsaw to cut away branches from a fallen tree, which was in the hardware guys driveway. With no electricity, people shared their water, their freezers, their grills,their food; and most of all, their friendship. Instead of retreating to our large screen TV’s, we discovered community in the midst of disaster. With no WiFi in our homes, we actually learned to talk to one another and deepen our relationships. No, we did not experience total destruction as some had during Irma, but we still learned some important lessons that will last for a lifetime.


There are no greater treasures than the highest human qualities such as compassion, courage and hope. Not even tragic accident or disaster can destroy such treasures of the heart. - Daisaku Ikeda

Fighting Procrastination

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Fighting Procrastination


Procrastination is the bad habit of putting off until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday.- Napoleon Hill


Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy. - Wayne Gretzky


Have you ever put something off that needed to be done ? Join the club, right ? I’ve known salespeople ( and did this myself at one point in my career until I learned the hard way) that procrastinate completing their weekly expenses. They wait for weeks on end, and send in one month of expenses at a time. Ouch. How can you even begin to construct an accurate account of your expenditures four weeks later ?


We tend to delay doing things that are uncomfortable or unpleasant. We shun the more difficult tasks, and turn towards the path of least resistance. I recently cleaned out one side of my garage. I schlepped in a trash can, a recycle bin, and backed up my Honda to receive items for the thrift store. It took me hours to sort, throw away, and toss unwanted items into my SUV ; but at the end of the day when I was driving to the local Habitat for Humanity with a car full of “ stuff”, I felt great. I asked myself, “ why did you put this off for so long ? “  I dreaded the thought of how bad that task could be, and I was wrong. The feeling of accomplishment was so much better than the feeling of dread. Granted, some projects do require a larger block of time to accomplish ; and this may require more organization and planning. But what about the things related to our business that we know we should be doing on a daily or weekly basis , like prospecting, cold calling, or following up on leads?


I find it interesting that the very meaning of the word “ procrastination” , according to Noah Webster is “ to-morrow “. I can definitely acknowledge that we sometimes do not possess the emotional bandwidth to deal with certain things, so we avoid them. They do have a way of circling back again to bite us. Have you ever noticed when they do resurface they look like they've been working out?They're bigger ! They've grown like a middle schooler on summer break !


Procrastination also brings his friends, “guilt and shame” . I literally felt ashamed of my garage and the condition it was in. Like a teenager hiding alcohol in his room, I was sensitive about this space, knowing that I was putting off doing something about it . I found so many other things in the house to focus on rather than doing the one tough thing that needed to be tackled. I even usurped some of wife's jobs, so I could avoid dejunking my garage. Have you ever done that with your business ? Our tendency is to focus on something easy, something that doesn’t require much bandwidth, that makes us have the appearance of staying “ busy “. The fact remains that while we are doing the “busy” work, our business plan remains untouched. That claim situation with an unhappy customer is festering because of neglect. That potential client remains uncontacted, because we are tied up. We tend to substitute easy and manageable things for the harder and more exacting tasks. It’s more convenient to get caught up in checking our email and texts, than to pick up the phone and prospect new opportunities.


So how do we break the procrastination cycle ? My wife shared a book with me called “ Eat That Frog “ in which author Brian Tracy helps overwhelmed readers overcome and conquer procrastination. One of his main tactics is to tackle the “ big frog “ first. That huge item or action that is literally hanging over our head like a dark summer rain cloud. Brian teaches us to jump on that big task first and get it out of the way, instead of putting it off until later, and maybe not getting to it at all. Once we eat the frog, everything else on our list seems so much easier !  What’s on your frog list ? What key items that are connected to your business have you been putting off doing ?


Maybe it's time to break out the Tabasco sauce and eat that frog. Decide that you will act on it TODAY and not tomorrow. Break the habit of procrastination, and feel the good dopamine chemicals hit your brain because you chose to get things done NOW !




Procrastination is like a credit card; it’s a lot of fun until you get the bill. - Christopher Parker

The Power of Carbonation

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The Power of Carbonation 

One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say. - Bryant H. McGill 

Carbonation is a powerful force in life. I know this first-hand as I worked several months during a hot Florida summer, as a Route Sales Delivery person for a popular bottling/beverage company. In addition to our “NR” - non returnable plastic bottles of drinks, we also provided a fair amount of drinks in glass bottles. I recall one sweltering day in Winter Haven, FL, at a mini mart; as I loaded my four wheel dolly with about 16 cases of drinks and pushed my way up a concrete embankment towards the store. I had clearly overloaded my cart, but I was too lazy ( or efficient ?) to make two trips. Trouble came rather suddenly when I reached the glass entry door of the store , and unbeknownst to me, hit their raised threshold a little too fast. Several cases of drinks decided they didn’t want to stay on the dolly, and jumped ship, rolling down hill towards the gas pumps. It looked like an exploding Star Wars Death Star as carbonated drinks began exploding and spewing everywhere. Customers pumping gas started ducking behind their cars, and workers behind counters. I discovered that day, the power of carbonation. ( and not trying to stack too many drinks on your cart at one time )

Salespeople are carbonated also. We build up all of this information, knowledge, and energy. We get all shaken up and feel like we are about to burst as we anticipate the sale. In our nervousness, we finally get in front of the customer for a presentation and we verbally throw up ! I'm sure you've either done this or witnessed it before, and it is not a pretty sight. It sort of looks like my carbonated drink debacle in Winter Haven - facts shooting there, numbers and illustrations spewing here, all at the speed of a Cat 5 hurricane. It's sort of like blowing up a balloon and letting it go, watching it flutter back and forth across the room without direction; until all the air is gone.

I think our hope, deep down, is that we may somehow impress our prospect with our vast array of product knowledge. Unfortunately, we become like a wild shootist, firing our sales gun wildly in numerous directions, expecting somehow to hit the target. Our intent is to give the prospect something of value that will stick. Without really listening to what the client’s needs are, we can come across as someone who is simply there to razzle dazzle and close the deal. Most savvy clients see right through this tactic, and move into “shut down” mode. The force field is up, and we are locked out !

Maybe a better approach would be to show up and ask questions ? Build our case. Find out where the pain points are. Where are the problems that need to be resolved, and how could our product or service accomplish this ? What are our prospects greatest challenges , and how can we help solve them ? We need to be a problem solver not a problem causer, showing ourselves to be a consultant, not a sales mugger or assaulter. When I was young home renter, I had to use a pair of plyers to drive a nail in, but I can assure you that a hammer works much better ! If we ask and listen, the client will actually hand us the hammer and tell us where to strike. Show up, but don’t throw up. 

I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.- Ernest Hemingway 

Conflict Creates Character

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Conflict Creates Character


Character isn't something you were born with and can't change, like your fingerprints. It's something you weren't born with and must take responsibility for forming.  - Jim Rohn


“ Good morning sir ! If you're here for breakfast, I have the perfect table for you,” claimed the tall strapping young man, as he shook my hand and led the way to a two seater, close to the breakfast bar. I knew that Hilton provided a decent breakfast, but this treatment was more on par with a five star restaurant. “ My name is Michael” ( not his real name…). I introduced myself , told him what I would like to drink, and Michael sprang into action. He arrived back at my table in a nanosecond with a smile on his face, and the next few minutes of conversation seemed to stop time.


With my urging, this pleasant twenty eight year old gave me the run down on his personal story. Originally from Georgia, he was one of the only members of his family to attend college. Somewhere along his sophomore year of school, Michaels parents were driving to visit him, and were involved in a fatal car accident. Both of them died. Michael was devastated, but believed his parents would've wanted him to finish his education. He told me with a glimmer in his eyes that on every test, in every class, and on each final; he pictured his parents delighting in his progress. Experiencing tough financial times, Michael spent the duration of his senior year living out of his SUV. He said, on cold nights, he would look for 24 hour diners where he could at least warm himself with a cup of coffee. He would wash up in the college bathrooms. After years of perseverance, Michael graduated with a Masters degree in engineering and recently accepted a position with a well known central Florida aerospace company. He still worked as a waiter for Hilton on a part time basis, he told me, “ to never forget where I came from. “ Soon, he would embark on his new career as an engineer.


With tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat, I was so moved. The only thing I could do was reach out and give him a big papa hug. I told him that he was already a success, because true success is not measured by our bank account, but by the riches that grow out of the wealth of our heart and spirit. He successfully looked adversity in the eye, and was not deterred from his goals. He stayed the course.


To every person trials must come. Everyone experiences conflict, adversity and challenges. These experiences can make us bitter or eventually make us better; depending on how we process them. The Greek word for “ character “ means to “ be marked or etched”. Life's experiences make an impression on us . Conflict marks and etches us. Sometimes, adversity can cut us very deeply. I have observed though, people who choose to think more like a victor and less like a victim, emerge on the other side of conflict with a tremendous depth of character. Many times, those who suffer much love much. Just like my new friend Michael, they choose to move forward despite the pain and the hurt. We don't deny the existence of the hurt or pain. The key is in not allowing it to consume our life.


Are you going through a season of conflict right now in your job, career, or personal life ? Take responsibility for the things you have the power to change, and let go of the rest. Focus on becoming a better you from this situation. Don't throw in the towel. Wrap the towel tightly around your hand ,and keep pressing on !




You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of. - Jim Rohn

What's So Funny?

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What’s So Funny ?


A sense of humor… is needed armor. Joy in one’s heart and some laughter on one’s lips is a sign that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life. - Hugh Sidney


Humor is mankind’s greatest blessing. - Mark Twain


One of the greatest skills that a salesperson should keep in their briefcase is a good sense of humor. The first and foremost application of this skill is being able to laugh at yourself. Yes, we have bills to pay, mouths to feed,and quotas to meet;  but we cannot be serious all of the time. Just look at nature, and little children. They love to play. The other morning during my walk,  I saw two squirrels scampering after each other, playing tag up an oak tree , running round and round like the stripes on a barber shop pole.  It made me chuckle just to watch them.


Once we get married and have children, and establish a household ; and begin to accumulate “stuff”;  somewhere along along the way, we become like Peter Pan. No, not the peanut butter. I mean we become like the character “ Peter Pan” who lives in Neverland. The best rendition of this story, I think, was played by Robin Williams in the movie “Hook”. As a successful lawyer in his adult life, he returns to London to honor his adopted mother Wendy. While he is speaking at Wendy’s honorarium that evening, dread Pirate Captain Hook ( played by Dustin Hoffman ) kidnaps Peter Panning’s children, and takes them to Never Land. Peter must find his children, and with the help of some fairy dust ( from Pixie, Julia Roberts ) and JetBlue, he flies to Neverland. ( ok … JetBlue does not service Never Land). Once he arrives in Neverland, and ends up reconnecting with the lost boys he had known eons ago, it is discovered that Peter has forgotten. He has forgotten how to  fly, to PLAY , to laugh, to have fun, to crow; and even to use his imagination. He grew up to become a boring adult, living a dull life. A life so serious, that there was never any time for laughter or fun.


Good humor is usually self-deprecating or simply about the off- the-wall realities of life. It never seeks to put another person down to obtain a laugh. We all have our sarcastic moments, but to stay there is not a healthy practice. I have found that the use of humor usually relaxes people, including myself. It breaks up  tense and stressful situations, and turns them into enjoyable relaxing meetings. Noah Webster defines humor as “ that quality of the imagination which gives to ideas a wild or fantastic turn, and tends to excite laughter or mirth by ludicrous images or representations…”


At one point in my sales career, I represented a lightweight concrete company in the central Florida market. Although we had a corporate office not far from Orlando, each account executive operated mainly out of their home office. Since the product we manufactured was a structural element, they paired each salesperson with a structural engineer, who made sure that the sales reps didn’t promise something that might not be structurally sound( now who would do that ?). My partnering engineer was a Vietnam vet and head of his local Harley biker club - a man’s man to say the least. One day, while working in my home office, I was leaving the engineer a voicemail, when in the midst of my message, my wife walked into my office wearing her bathing suit. We had just installed a pool, and she came into my office to tell me something. At that moment, my mind disengaged from my voice mail and redirected onto my wife, standing there in her bathing suit. Then, as if observing someone else, I suddenly found myself closing out the call to the engineer by saying, “ Bye, I love you ! “ Waking up , as if hit with a bolt of lightning, I corrected, “ No, no, no, that was an accident. Sorry…” and I hung up. When arriving at the home office later that day, I discovered that the engineer had forwarded my voicemail  to the entire company. When listening to my message, the President commented in his thick German accent, “ Well, Neal must really love his work ! “ Truth is funnier than fiction.


Learning to laugh at ourselves and find humor within day to day life  is an invaluable skill that will build strong relationships; help us to enjoy the journey, and  hopefully leave a smile on our client’s faces. Laughter is good medicine for the soul.


A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
- Proverbs 17:22 ( NIV Bible )

Hello ? A Cellular Rant

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Hello ?  A Cellular Rant


Apparently we love our own cell phones but we hate everyone else’s. - Joe Bob Briggs


As youngsters, my mother taught her children that while we might not be the smartest people around, we could be courteous, polite and considerate of others. - Zig Ziglar


How did we ever live without cell phones ? Could people of the human race actually ommunicate without this electronic device, that has now morphed into a personal computer that fits in our pocket ? When I first started my career in sales, my “ cell phone “ was attached to the wall of the local 7-11. It was called a “pay phone”. A client recently told me over a business lunch, that he was at an airport with his grandson, and his grandson grabbed his hand, dragged him around the corner, pointed to an object on the wall and said , “ Gramps, what is that ?” It was a pay phone. My, how technology has changed.


But our consideration for one another has seemed to digress as technology has increased. We seem to be communicating more, but are we communicating better ? Those of us who are a little older have watched our world change with the use of personal electronic devices. It seems like almost everyone has a cell phone now. I know parents of elementary school children that are throwing fits ( the kids, not the parents…) to have the most latest and greatest Android or I -phone. I watched an elderly couple at a local restaurant finish lunch , then he spent the next 15 minutes checking his cell phone while his wife read a book. Shoot, I even saw a man riding a bicycle down the road the other day while talking on his cell phone. Who said men can't multi-task ?


While the immediate accessibility can be a plus, I have to wonder about the long-term impacts of the stress and anxiety that accompanies the quickened pace of our lives. We have become like Pavlov’s dog, trained to jump every time our phone indicates a new message, a new text, a fresh email, or a response on social media. At times, these little devices that grant us so much freedom and accessibility, can seem to become our task master. We also seem to be less patient with one another. We demand immediate responses, and get angry when they don't come soon enough. I’m sure you’ve observed this in our culture. So how do we enfold technology into our jobs and still maintain proper relational balance and consideration of others ? Here are a few thoughts.


Meetings. Have you ever been in a meeting, maybe in the middle of a statement, and someone’s phone chirps ; and they absolutely HAVE to take the call ? Unless your wife is giving birth or you have a sick child at home, is it really necessary to take that call and interrupt the meeting ? I have been at lunch meetings with clients, and they see my cell phone light up ( I keep it on vibrate ), and they tell me, “ Go ahead and take the call. “ My response is , “ No, I am here with you now, and you deserve my full attention. That’s what voicemail is for ! “ If we plan on being somewhere, BE THERE . We must be present at our meetings and presentations without allowing technology to interrupt. Otherwise, we can send a subtle message to the client, “ you are really not that important. “


Public Conversations. Have you ever walked into a talking bathroom ? It happened to me just the other day while visiting a healthcare client. I ducked into the bathroom , and was greeted by a pharmaceutical rep discussing sales projections with his manager while on the crapper. Yes, I applaud his mastery of time management, but wouldn’t a walk outside or a 5 minute talk in his car afford more privacy ? What makes us think that the whole world should know our business ? I can recall having lunch at a poultry-based fast food establishment one afternoon, and being subjected to a lengthy conversation from a salesperson representing residential products, boasting about how he scammed some homeowners. I wanted to throw a waffle frie at this dude. You may have experienced something similar !


I polled our local postal workers at my small hometown post office one afternoon, asking them about their thoughts regarding cell phones. They told me the most frustrating thing that they deal with is someone who is on their cell phone when they enter the post office, and stays on their cell phone during their entire transaction. Why ? Because by doing so , the person on the cell phone does not provide their full attention to the attendant and thus makes them feel disrespected and slighted. We cannot treat individuals in service businesses as merely a means to our end. Who wants to feel used? This is simply rude. People deserve to be treated like, well, people ; receiving our eye contact, our smile and our full attention - without a phone or bluetooth stuck in our ear.


Sometimes, I think we use our phones as a means to escape true social interaction. We can utilize machines  to keep from making contact with a real human. Our phones can become our security blankets. While cycling a local trail one Saturday with my wife, we joined a group of young people that we knew from our hometown. Our group stopped for lunch while on the trail. I was amazed and struck by the fact that the young lady sitting next to me, stayed on her phone, primarily checking out social media, during the entire lunch . Never made eye contact once.  I felt saddened and a bit ticked off that she chose to communicate with her cyber friends instead of the living breathing humans that were sitting 6” from her. Am I the only one that has a problem with that ?


Technology should be a tool that helps bring people together , but we have to be wise in the way we use those tools, or I'm afraid that they will dominate our lives. Most of all, we must never lose site of the fact that people are more important than machines. Maybe it's time to reexamine our priorities and practices when it comes to our technology, ya think ?


Every time there's a new tool, whether it's Internet or cell phones or anything else, all these things can be used for good or evil. Technology is neutral; it depends on how it's used. - Rick Smolan

Finding Inspiration

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Finding Inspiration


Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working. - Pablo Picasso


It is so easy to compare ourselves with others in life , isn’t it ? This happens in the sales profession also. This is such a divisive and unproductive habit to acquire, because we usually end up falling short of the mark, and ultimately become unmotivated. When we compare, we usually focus on what we do not have, rather than access or appreciate what we do have. In the sales field, comparing can end up providing us with excuses for copping out. I’ve heard ( or even said ) statements like, “ They are doing so well because they have a better territory.” Or, “ He gets all the good leads.”
Or, “ She’s just lucky “.


One of our founding fathers said that “ Luck is when hard work meets opportunity.” If someone is more successful than we are, we should rejoice with them not envy them.When we compare our performance to others, and envy them for their good qualities, it stunts our own growth and limits our progress. Plus, we never know the complete story. We assume that we do, but do we even know what is going on within our own lives?
How could we ever begin to understand what is happening in another person’s life ? We never fully grasp the price that someone has paid to get to  where they are, or the journey they had to take to get there.


Instead of comparison, I would rather find inspiration. Webster defines inspired as being “ breathed in, inhaled, infused. “ Have you ever walked into a Panera Bread store right after they pulled hot bread from the oven ? Or stepped into a kitchen that was filled with the aroma of a delicious apple pie baking ? Don't you stop and breathe that aroma in ? What does it inspire you to do ? Eat bread. Dig into a pie. In a similar fashion, we can breathe in the good qualities of peers and mentors around us who are “ baking fresh bread “, so to speak. By allowing other sales people to inspire us, we can emulate their good qualities and experience success also. Recently , while attending an international sales meeting, I was afforded the opportunity to have a private discussion with one of our top performers. I asked him, “ What makes you successful? What are some of the principles that you use to sell the volume of business that you do ? “ He was more than willing to share his life and experiences with me. Do you know that he also informed me that NO ONE had ever asked him what his secrets to success were ! Amazing !


Do you know a sales veteran that you could interview and ask what their guiding principles are? What’s their secret sauce ? You may be surprised to find out that no one has ever asked them that question ; and you may also discover that you are already doing some of the very same things that they are. Hopefully, you will be inspired to keep putting into practice a proven process! Let's go bake some bread .


Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. -Thomas A. Edison