Job losses, plant closings, chain stores disappearing, global competition … can things get any worse? Yes, they can and yes, they will … for many in this country. On the other hand, we find those unique individuals who choose to fight back, make a difference, and enjoy the benefits of doing so!

A former client and now cherished friend, Melody Harshbarger, sent me a reminder of just such a person. I had the privilege of meeting Melody in the aftermath of the 9-11 tragedy, and our friendship has grown over the years. She’s the owner and President of MMC Studios, an advertising and design firm in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The story Melody sent me has been around for a very long time, but I never tire of hearing it and feel that every business person in the U.S. needs to read it, understand it, and apply it daily. If that were to happen, you’d see the turnaround this country needs right now.

Now, when I revisit this true story, I think of Melody as she is so respected, appreciated, and cherished by everyone who is fortunate enough to make her acquaintance. She personifies the spirit and essence of this simple but very powerful strategy for success.

I’ve lost count of the cab rides I’ve been forced to endure in major cities from coast to coast. I’ve never had the opportunity to meet a Cab Driving Eagle like the one you’re about to meet … but I’m certainly looking forward to the experience. Read, learn, enjoy, and pass it on!

Wally – A Cab Driving Eagle

No one can make you serve customers well … that’s because great service is a choice. Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point.

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

He handed my friend a laminated card and said: “I’m Wally, your driver. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk, I’d like you to read my mission statement.”

Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said: Wally’s Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment …

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, “Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.” My friend said jokingly, “No, I’d prefer a soft drink.” Wally smiled and said,”‘No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.” Almost stuttering, Harvey said, “I’ll take a Diet Coke.”

Handing him his drink, Wally said, “If you’d like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.”

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

And as if that weren’t enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he’d be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts …

“Tell me, Wally,” my amazed friend asked the driver, “have you always served customers like this?”

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. “No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day.”

“He had just written a book called You’ll See It When You Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, ‘Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.'”

“That hit me right between the eyes,” said Wally. “Dyer was really talking about me. 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,” Harvey said.

“It sure has,” Wally replied. “My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I’ll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don’t sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can’t pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.”

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I’ve probably told that story to more than 50 cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn’t do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles. Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar. Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles. How about you?

The results you’re getting are the results you should be getting. If you want different results, you must change what you’re doing! There is no prize without the price.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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TEAMWORK … I’ve been exposed to that word, that concept, that strategy … for as long as I can remember. I’m sure you have as well.

It probably started for me as a Cub Scout and gained momentum as I grew into a Boy Scout. It was emphasized even more as I played high school football, basketball, and baseball. As I entered the military, it was immediately reframed as a critical life and death strategy.

After decades in the business world, I can safely say I’ve heard it mentioned most every week of my life. However, I often wonder if it hasn’t simply become a necessary “buzz word” that we’ve taken for granted and learned to ignore.

We see almost daily examples of the importance of TEAMWORK and the positive consequences which result. And yet, far too many organizations have relegated its importance at a time when it could easily mean the difference between success and failure for everyone involved! I wonder what those organizations are focusing on which is so much more important than developing TEAMWORK.

While I’m encouraged by the increasing number of requests for keynotes and seminars on the subject of TEAMWORK, I feel far too many organizations fail to realize the true need for TEAMWORK as anything more than a “buzz word.”

We even see revealing examples involving simple wildlife and yet fail to benefit from the obvious lessons provided for us. I was recently sitting with a close friend on my deck overlooking the lake as we witnessed a flock of geese flying by in perfect formation.

It immediately brought back memories of an age-old anecdote I’ve heard time and time again. I’m sure you’ve heard it as well. The question is: “Did you learn anything from the narrative? Did you apply the lesson to gain its obvious benefits? Did you close the “Knowing-Doing” Gap?

You might want to revisit this Generational Gem and even share it with those you currently team with. It’s a short video but offers a valuable lesson for us in today’s challenging, rapidly changing, chaotic environment.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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Some of life’s most powerful messages can be found in analogies which surround us as we go about our daily routines. Sadly, far too many people are focused elsewhere and therefore fail to learn a valuable lesson. Others simply prefer to avoid these lessons and are then destined to suffer the consequences time and time again.

Check out this short video for an interesting adage concerning the true meaning of life. A wise university professor serves coffee to a visiting group of successful alumni as he shares an obvious analogy comparing a cup of coffee to life itself. His point is obvious indeed and very difficult to challenge. And yet few will alter their actions or outlook after hearing it. Life would be so much more rewarding if only we would sometimes pause to recognize the obvious and act accordingly.

Take a moment to share this video with someone you truly care for. You’ll both benefit from the wisdom and appreciate the consequences of your effort.

Are YOU focusing on your coffee or the cup?

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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I find it truly amazing that some of life’s best lessons … most powerful anecdotes … and most rewarding parables are the most simplistic. Ironically, perhaps that isn’t necessarily a good thing. Some lessons are so elementary that many don’t take them seriously.

There’s a fantastic metaphor that’s been passed on for generations that has always been one of my favorites. It’s indeed simple but shares a hard-hitting philosophy that will benefit anyone who applies its principles.

Brian Tracy, one of America’s leading authorities on human potential and personal effectiveness, transformed this magical metaphor into a book (Eat that Frog! See our book review.) offering tips and tools to support this valuable strategy. If you’ll follow the advice offered in this short and simple story, IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE in so many ways!

This strategy has become an intricate part of our much-requested “Productive Chaos” program, which has been presented to thousands of clients all over North America. While millions have heard it over the years, I have to wonder how many have truly applied it at a personal level. I fear far too few.

Take a look at this short video clip. Listen closely. Apply the advice. Note what an immediate difference it can make in your life. After you see the video, finish this article for two more critical pieces of advice that will add to your experience!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03DAyY6KP_c

Now that you have been exposed to the theory, the question is: “Will you apply it to your personal life starting tomorrow morning?” If you decide to take advantage of this powerful strategy, here are two more bonus thoughts which will secure your success in overcoming procrastination and enhancing your productivity.

1. If you must eat two frogs … eat the ugliest one first!
2. If you have to eat a live frog … it doesn’t pay to sit and look at it for very long!

Now go out there and close your Knowing-Doing Gap!

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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Change is great. Technology is fascinating. Progress is essential.

However, it’s crucial that we maintain a link to our distinguished past. While time and progress marches on, as it should, there is still much to be learned by revisiting those thrilling days of yesteryear! To those of us who lived it, a review of those times are a comforting pause in a hectic existence. To younger generations who didn’t, it can be an educational and enlightening peek into what appears to be a less complicated and often impeccable world.

Revisiting the past also provides insight into experiences that today’s generation would otherwise never experience or even comprehend. Where else would they learn about vinyl records, drive-in theaters, jukeboxes, typewriters, flagpole sitting, Dippity Doo, bell bottoms, family dinner conversations, telephone party lines, lickable postage stamps, a milkman, full-service gas stations, hitch-hiking, bomb shelters, tent revivals, the Iron Curtain, hood ornaments, fuzzy dice, steam locomotives, car fins, iron lung, flash cubes, and dirt roads.

We could add people to that list of phenomenal memories, but the list would never end. However, I feel comfortable in adding one particular name because this man was unsurpassed at reminiscing about so many heart-warming and tear producing moments. Paul Harvey did just that on radio for 76 years until he died in 2009 at the age of 91. His listening audience was estimated, at its peak, at 24 million people a week. Paul Harvey News was carried on 1,200 radio stations, 400 Armed Forces Network stations and 300 newspapers. The most noticeable features of Harvey’s folksy delivery were his dramatic pauses and quirky intonations. You’d swear he was talking directly to you and you alone.

To this day, you can find a large sampling of Paul’s work on YouTube. One of his most touching recitations dealt with a subject that produces vivid memories for millions of Baby Boomers and just might spark the imagination of today’s fast-paced, continually stressed younger generation.

Paul did a very touching rendition of a piece written by Lee Pitts in his book, People Who Live at the End of Dirt Roads. It certainly takes us back to a much gentler time and place … if only for a moment.

“Dirt Roads”

What’s mainly wrong with society today is that too many Dirt Roads have been paved.

There’s not a problem in America today, crime, drugs, education, divorce, delinquency that wouldn’t be remedied, if we just had more Dirt Roads, because Dirt Roads give character.

People that live at the end of Dirt Roads learn early on that life is a bumpy ride.

That it can jar you right down to your teeth sometimes, but it’s worth it, if at the end is home … a loving spouse, happy kids and a dog.

We wouldn’t have near the trouble with our educational system if our kids got their exercise walking a Dirt Road with other kids, from whom they learn how to get along.

There was less crime in our streets before they were paved.

Criminals didn’t walk two dusty miles to rob or rape, if they knew they’d be welcomed by 5 barking dogs and a double barrel shotgun.

And there were no drive by shootings.

Our values were better when our roads were worse!

People did not worship their cars more than their kids, and motorists were more courteous, they didn’t tailgate by riding the bumper or the guy in front would choke you with dust and bust your windshield with rocks.

Dirt Roads taught patience.

Dirt Roads were environmentally friendly, you didn’t hop in your car for a quart of milk you walked to the barn for your milk.

For your mail, you walked to the mail box.

What if it rained and the Dirt Road got washed out? That was the best part, then you stayed home and had some family time, roasted marshmallows and popped popcorn and pony rode on Daddy’s shoulders and learned how to make prettier quilts than anybody.

At the end of Dirt Roads, you soon learned that bad words tasted like soap.

Most paved roads lead to trouble, Dirt Roads more likely lead to a fishing creek or a swimming hole.

At the end of a Dirt Road, the only time we even locked our car was in August, because if we didn’t some neighbor would fill it with too much zucchini.

At the end of a Dirt Road, there was always extra springtime income, from when city dudes would get stuck, you’d have to hitch up a team and pull them out.

Usually you got a dollar … always you got a new friend … at the end of a Dirt Road.

If you enjoyed this brief reflection, take a look at the many other offerings you’ll find in our Generational Gems category of this blog. Share them with your children and/or grandchildren to experience the closest thing you can find to what we enjoyed as a family dinner conversation.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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In these days of increased health costs, consider the following questions:

• How many people do you think invest the time and money to consult a doctor, psychologist, psychiatrist or therapist every day?
• How much money is invested daily in having prescriptions filled by the above professionals?
• Once you receive a prescription, do you have it filled and do you follow the instructions as prescribed?

Well, here’s a prescription for reducing stress, increasing productivity, and insuring success. In addition, it will cost you nothing other than a few minutes of your time and a little dedication on your part.

Listen closely to the wisdom and advice in the following short video. The gentlemen conveying this valuable message is Earl Nightingale, famed motivational speaker and author, who passed away in 1989 at the age of 68. If you’d like to learn more about Earl, simple check the article we posted on our blog last year. Nightingale has positively impacted millions of people worldwide over many decades. This is the kind of message we Boomers need to pass on to the younger generations.

Strangely enough, this video was record 40 years ago, but it’s truth and relevance is as powerful today as it was at that time. Earl shares a story told to him years earlier by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, famed author of The Power of Positive Thinking and many other best-sellers.

Listen to the four simple steps of this powerful prescription as described in Gone with the Tide … apply them yourself and feel the immediate positive impact on your outlook on life! Read it, heed it, and seed it to others. You’ll feel much better for doing it!

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with leaders in a vast array of industries. It’s always intriguing to observe how leaders, both new and seasoned, respond to the possession of authority. I’ve seen just about every reaction you could expect to find.

Some leaders are wise enough to use their authority as just one of the many tools at their beck and call in achieving specific goals for their organization. Others allow authority to go right to their heads, flaunt it openly, alienate everyone involved, and, as a result, suffer profusely.

Here’s an age-old Generational Gem that illustrates the negative consequences of misusing the potent power of authority.

“Show Him Your Badge”

A DEA officer stops at a ranch in Texas and talks with an old rancher. He tells the rancher, “I need to inspect your ranch for illegally grown drugs.” The rancher says, “Okay, but do not go in that field over there,” as he points out the location.

The DEA officer verbally explodes saying, ” Mister, I have the authority of the Federal Government with me.” Reaching into his rear pants pocket, he removes his badge and proudly displays it to the rancher. “See this badge? This badge means I am allowed to go wherever I wish … on any land. No questions asked or answers given. Have I made myself clear? Do you understand?”

The rancher nods politely, apologizes, and goes about his chores.

A short time later, the old rancher hears loud screams and sees the DEA officer running for his life, chased by the rancher’s big Santa Gertrudis bull ….

With every step the bull is gaining ground on the officer, and it seems likely that he’ll get gored before he reaches safety. The officer is clearly terrified. The rancher throws down his tools, runs to the fence and yells at the top of his lungs …

“Your badge. Show him your BADGE!”

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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This article marks our 60th offering of Generational Gems, demonstrating just how many wonderful stories are available to guide us and our Future Leaders today. This Gem can be traced back to our Native American ancestry and, while very simplistic, speaks volumes as to the impact we can have on our own destiny.

Two Wolves.

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all.

“One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

“The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?”

The wise old Cherokee grandfather simply replied, “The one you feed!”

This tale is as true today as it was when shared with the young Indian brave. Pause to contemplate the actions of those around you. Can you tell who is feeding which wolf? It’s actually pretty easy to detect. If asked, could others easily detect which wolf you’re feeding? Now that’s food for thought! The choice is yours!

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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Remember CB radios? Breaker! Breaker! Well, before CB radio, there was ham radio. It started in the early 1900s and developed a tremendous following over the years. If you’ve ever seen a movie about the sinking of the Titanic, you’ll remember the crew sending an SOS to other ships requesting rescue. The radio they used will give you an idea of what a Ham radio looks like.

Both a strength and a weakness of the ham radio was the fact that operators could and often did listen in on conversations between other operators. I remember my grandfather doing exactly that for hours at a time. What began as a hobby for Gramps soon became a lifestyle that kept him joyfully occupied throughout his later years. He established a network of loyal friends from all over the world.

Reflecting back on the visual of my grandfather sitting at his ham radio with a content smile on his face chatting with friends, I’m reminded of a Generational Gem which we should all strongly consider.

3,900 Marbles

On a typical Saturday morning, a man, balancing a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and several warm chocolate chip cookies in the other, made his way to his home office for his habitual weekend session with his friends on his ham radio.

This particular day he decided to listen to a Saturday morning swapnet. In searching for the program, he came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whomever he was talking with something about “a thousand marbles.” He was intrigued and stopped to listen to the conversation.

“Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you’re busy with your job. I’m sure they pay you well, but it’s a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work 60 or 70 hours a week to make ends meet. It’s too bad you missed your daughter’s dance recital,” he continued; “Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities.” And that’s when he began to explain his theory of a “thousand marbles.”

“You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about 75 years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about 75 years.

“Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52, and I came up with 3,900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I’m getting to the important part.

“It took me until I was 55 years old to think about all this in any detail,” he went on, “and by that time I had lived through over 2800 Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be 75, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1,000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear.”

“Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.

“There’s nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.

“Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time.

“It was nice to meet you Tom. I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75-year-old man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!”

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. Apparently, he gave everyone listening a lot to think about. The elderly gentleman who had been listening had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then was going to meet up with a few other “hams” to work on the next club newsletter.

Instead, he went upstairs and woke up his wife up with a kiss. “C’mon honey, I’m taking you and the kids to breakfast.”

“What brought this on?” she asked with a smile.

“Oh, nothing special, it’s just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, I need to stop at a toy store to buy some marbles.”

HOW MANY MARBLES DO YOU HAVE LEFT? IT’S CERTAINLY SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT!

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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So many wonderful stories and lessons are available to us today and yet we seldom hear or read them as our media chooses to focus on the more negative. Thus, we created this Generational Gems series. We all have the responsibility to see that these Gems are passed on to the coming generations. The following Gem is true, goes back a few decades, and is certainly pertinent today. Take a moment and share it in the hopes of keeping it alive.

Living in the Same Box

It is 1936. American Jesse Owens seems certain to win the long jump competition in the Olympic games. The previous year he had jumped 26 feet, 8 1/4 inches—a record that will stand for 25 years.

As he walks to the long-jump pit, however, Owens sees a tall, blue-eyed, blond German taking practice jumps in the 26-foot range. Owens feels nervous. He is acutely aware of the Nazis’ desire to prove “Aryan superiority.” And as a black son of a share cropper, he knows what it is like to feel inferior.

On his first jump, Owens inadvertently leaps from several inches beyond the takeoff board. Rattled, he fouls on his second attempt too. One more foul and he will be eliminated.

At this point, the tall German introduces himself as Luz Long. “You should be able to qualify with your eyes closed!” he says to Owens, referring to his upcoming two jumps. For the next few moments, the African American and the white model of Nazi manhood chat together. Then Long makes a suggestion. Since the qualifying distance is only 23 feet, 5 1/2 inches, why not make a mark several inches before the takeoff board and jump from there, just to play it safe? Owens does and qualifies easily.

In the finals, Owens sets an Olympic record and earns the second of four gold medals. But who is the first person to congratulate him? Luz Long—in full view of Adolf Hitler! Owens never again sees Long, who is later killed in World War II. “You could melt down all the medals and cups I have,” Owens later writes, “and they wouldn’t serve as plating on the 24-carat friendship I felt for Luz Long.”

Perhaps unknowingly, Luz Long taught the world a valuable lesson.

Someone else put it like this: “We can learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp … some are pretty … some are dull … some have weird names … and all are different colors … but they all have to learn to live in the same box.”

The same holds true for today’s workplace, and we shouldn’t overlook the importance of this lesson.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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