Oh, to return to those wonderful days of yesteryear when things seemed so much simpler and a real friend was a real friend.

It was Christmas school break back in the 50s, and Bobby and Tommy were riding the bus home, talking and thinking about Santa Claus. Tommy said that he had been a good boy and was hoping Santa would bring him a BB gun. Bobby was old enough and bright enough to know that if he wanted to find his favorite toys under the tree on Christmas morning, he needed to pray very loud so Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma could hear him. He also knew it helped if he turned down the pages in the Sears catalog and left it out where it could be easily found by family members.

However, down deep inside, Bobby wanted to believe in Santa Claus just like his younger friend, Tommy.

Finally, Christmas morning arrived, and there it was … the shiny brand new bicycle just like Bobby wanted. There was a few Matchbox cars, toy soldiers, and a brand new Red Ryder BB gun as well.

Bobby ran next door to show Tommy his new bike and BB gun. When he arrived on Tommy’s porch, he found his young friend sitting on the steps barely able to speak. He heard Tommy’s quivering little voice say: “Bobby, Santa Claus didn’t come. Either I’ve been a bad boy or Santa ran out of toys.”

Bobby could see the pain in Tommy’s eyes and hear the brutal disappointment in his voice. Bobby, without thinking, quickly said: “Tommy, Santa did come. He thought you were spending the night with me, and he left your BB gun at my house. I rode my bike over to bring it to you.”

Tommy grinned from ear to ear and was so excited he could hardly speak as he grabbed the gun and shot an imaginary bear off in the distance. Tommy hugged Bobby, and Bobby hugged him back. At that very moment, at 9 years old, Bobby once again believed there really is a Santa Claus.

On his way home on his new bike, without his new BB gun, Bobby kept thinking, “Please Mama, don’t be mad.” And she wasn’t.

A best friend may very well be the greatest gift of all! And wouldn’t it be nice to see a few of Bobby’s values in today’s chaotic world?

Merry Christmas!

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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It’s startling how quickly a long-standing tradition can suddenly disappear into the abyss of historic memories.

When I was young, it was not unusual to drive down the street and see laundry hanging outside in most every yard—soaking up the warm rays of sunshine as they dried in the fresh summer breeze. Some folks used a simple, straight clothesline connecting two trees while others chose a fancy, adjustable rotary apparatus. Either way the sun, wind and dozens of clothespins did the job very efficiently.

This fond memory brings to mind a Generational Gem that we should revisit as we face a business environment which, for the first time in history, employs members of four very different generations. How we view one another is critical to our success.

Consider this example:

A young couple moves into a new neighborhood.

One morning, over breakfast, the young wife notices her neighbor hanging the wash outside in a gentle breeze.

“Her laundry’s not very clean,” she said. “She either doesn’t know how to wash correctly or maybe she needs better laundry soap.” Her husband looked on, but remained silent.

Over the next few weeks, every time her neighbor would hang her wash on the clothesline the young woman would make the same critical comments.

About a month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband: “Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her?”

The husband said, “I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.”

And so it is with life. What we see when observing others depends on the purity of the window through which we look! A little patience, empathy, and understanding can certainly go a long way in providing a much clearer view!

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 seems to be the buzzword of the year. You hear it from everyone—politicians, business leaders, and the media at every turn. While everyone does an exceptional job of talking change, it’s going to be interesting to see how they do at walking it. For the first time in many years, outcomes are suddenly critical to success and in many cases, survival.

As a result of that momentous challenge, everyone seems to be running around like a head with their chicken cut off! Everyone appears to be on the move. However, being busy doesn’t exactly insure progress or accomplishment. Activity alone clearly isn’t enough.

John Henry Fabre, a French naturalist, conducted an experiment which certainly proves this fact. He filled a flowerpot with dirt and arranged some processionary caterpillars in a circle around the rim of the flowerpot. These caterpillars blindly follow the one in front of them. Hence, the name. In the center of the flowerpot he put pine needles, which is the favorite food of the processionary caterpillar. The caterpillars walked around the rim of the flowerpot hour after hour, day after day, night after night. No nourishment, no rest! They dropped dead of starvation and exhaustion; and all the food they needed was just inches away! They failed to take care of what was important. And in the process they accomplished nothing meaningful, nothing lasting. The caterpillars mistook activity for accomplishment. They meant well but failed to distinguish between exertion and purpose.

Many people and organizations make the same mistake. As a result, they accomplish only a fraction of what they’re capable of. Many of them do what they do simply because it’s always been down that way. Today’s challenges require more.

True achievers must set daily, productive action goals that are results-oriented. Convince an entire team to do this, and you’ll start seeing positive results very quickly. This focused effort soon becomes a habit—one which leads to the success you seek.

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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Visualize your first trip to a new shopping mall. If you want to locate a particular store, you usually make your way to one of those large directory maps that shows the location of every store in the complex. And what do you do once you locate your chosen destination? You’re still missing one essential piece of information … that little red dot accompanied by those three crucial words: YOU ARE HERE!

The best map in the world is worthless and can’t possibly help you reach your destination if you have no idea where you are at the moment. Leaders must also recognize this basic principle as they develop their employees. It’s imperative to provide goals for your people—to show them where they need to go to achieve the success they desire.

However, for a variety of reasons, we often forget to make certain they know where they are right now in such consequential areas as experience, education, training, resources, etc. The need for explicit communication at this point of their development can mean the difference between future success and failure for the individual as well as the organization.

Each employee must know where they are, where they need to be, and how to get from one dot to the other. Are you doing your part in helping them connect the dots?

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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Our client list boasts organizations of all sizes, from all areas of North America, and includes just about every industry you can imagine. It’s quite obvious then that you can expect tremendous differences to exist among those clients under these various conditions.

However, they also share many commonalities. For instance, you can always find that personality that tends to be forever negative. I’m certain you know someone that falls into that category. He/she is the kind of person who would kick if he/she were hung with a new rope! They always see the negative side of every issue. As a result, they become an eternal “speed bump” to productivity, teamwork, communication, and success.

On the flip side of that coin is the eternal optimist … that very special person who has the potential to carry the entire staff through trial and tribulation while wearing a smile and finding the positive potential in every situation. These people tend to be the backbone of the operation and deserve much more credit than they usually receive.

One such woman highlights today’s Generational Gem.

A very old lady looked in the mirror one morning. She had three remaining hairs on her head, and being a positive soul, she said, “I think I’ll braid my hair today.” So she braided her three hairs, and she had a great day.

Some days later, looking in the mirror one morning, preparing for her day, she saw that she had only two hairs remaining. “Hmm, two hairs… I think I’ll part my hair in the center today.” She duly parted her two hairs, and as ever, she had a great day.

A week or so later, she saw that she had just one hair left on her head. “One hair huh,” she mused, “I know, a pony-tail will be perfect.” And again she had a great day.

The next morning she looked in the mirror. She was completely bald. “Finally bald huh,” she said to herself. “How wonderful! I won’t have to waste time doing my hair any more.”

Wouldn’t it be fantastic if we had more people like that in the workplace everyday? By the way, which category do you fall into? It is a conscious choice, you know? We make it every day.

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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Close the knowing-doing gap, walk the talk, take action …

It’s certainly not new.

We hear it all the time.

It’s obviously a great strategy.

It’s the only way to be productive.

It’s been preached and practiced for centuries.

And yet, pause a moment and visualize any one of the many political candidates we’ve been exposed to over the past three or four elections at the local, state, or federal levels. Compare what they told us they would do if elected to what they actually did once in office.

Now think about a CEO or company president that has earned the focus of the national media attention by failing to meet expectations and/or promises.

Turn on your TV and surf the many football games aired this weekend. How many head coaches are falling short in the same areas of not closing the knowing-doing gap, not taking action in obvious areas of need, or not walking the talk?

It’s a leadership issue.

Always has been.

Always will be.

This critical issue leads us to still another Generational Gem:

One golfer had an absolutely horrible day on the links. His ball lay on an ant hill, and he swung viciously with a five-iron. Again and again he missed the ball and chopped away at the hill, killing ants and sending sand flying through the air. One frightened ant turned to another and said, “We’d better get on the ball if we want to stay alive!”

This is true of most of us.

There is a time to think, and there is a time to do.

There is a time to learn, and there is a time to act.

There is a time to gather information, and there is a time to make decisions.

It’s been said that knowing something doesn’t make a difference. But doing something with what you know does make a difference.

If you’ve been putting off that decision; if you’ve been procrastinating about beginning that project; or, if you’ve never gotten around to pursuing that dream which never seems to go away, then this is your nudge to get on the ball. It’s the only way to truly prosper and grow.

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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If you’ve visited Disney World in Florida, you’re more than likely familiar with the city of Kissimmee. Home to about 61,000 residents, it’s situated just a little southwest of the Orlando International Airport. It’s also the spring training home of the Houston Astros baseball team. It’s very well-known for a number of reasons … one of which is the fact that few people can pronounce it.

A man and his wife were driving their RV across the state and stopped in this beautiful city to grab a bite to eat. Having never visited Florida prior to this trip, they couldn’t help but notice the odd spelling of its name. Chatting over lunch they tried to figure out how to pronounce it—KISS-ah-me, Ka-SIM-me, Kiss-ah-ME? They grew more puzzled with each attempt.

The husband finally approached the counter and said to the cashier: “My wife and I are new to the area and can’t seem to be able to figure out how to pronounce this place. Will you tell me where we are and pronounce it very slowly so that I can understand it and repeat it to my wife?”

The cashier looked puzzled at the man and slowly said: “BUR-GER KING.”

Ya get what ya asked for!

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 know you’re probably pressed for time. Everyone seems to be in today’s chaotic environment. However, as we approach a very important election day, I would ask you to take just a moment out of your busy schedule to read the following article … absorb its true meaning and think about what must be done by all of us if we hope to survive the many challenges we’re currently facing. I think you might find the end of this article to be quite surprising … causing you to rethink our current way of life and start demanding those in Washington to represent you as you intended them to. You might even consider sending this piece on to others in hope of opening a few more eyes to the urgency of the situation.

The Fall of a Nation

I would like to tell you the story of a nation. This nation had its beginnings with a settlement of hardy farmers near the sea and so situated strategically to command a large trade area. From this settlement grew a great nation, and its influence would spread over a great part of the world.

Its people became skilled in crafts, engineering, and commerce until they were the most prosperous mankind had ever known. Its soldiers guarded the far corners of the earth.

Its currency dominated commerce.

Its technology was unequaled.

Its standard of living was the envy of the world.

As time went by, its people began to feel the corruptive influences of riches and much leisure. Old values were fading away, and people gave vent to their frustration in spectacular games and entertainment that was becoming increasingly crude.

Drunkenness and adultery became widespread.

Robberies and beatings were making the streets of its great capital unsafe.

The confusion of the times was being reflected in the high rate of suicides and mental disorders. The effects of all of this was becoming evident upon the national character. There was scandal and dissension within the government itself. Alien forces within were making it increasingly hard to unify the nation and one of its great leaders was assassinated.

As time goes on, we find other troubles besetting the nation. The farmers, the backbone of the state, are being ruined by war and an inflation which resists the government’s attempts to fix prices.

The nation has steadily been exporting its gold so that an adverse trade balance has mounted. The benefits of a great trading area are beginning to be offset by grinding taxation, and its currency is rapidly losing its value, posing a threat to the nation’s stability.

On top of all this, invasion at the far reaches of the domain, by Asian forces, less advanced but great in number, threaten our very way of life.

The empire was falling apart and the capital itself fell on a date documented in history as the end of civilization for centuries to come. And that date … the 4th of September, 476 A.D. The nation … the Roman Empire, which had its beginnings with the farmers of Laotia near the Mediterranean Sea.

It is all documented history. The growth of the nation … the giving away to corruption … the entertainment … the scandals … and the assassination of Julius Caesar.

Also the inflation, the adverse trade balance, and the government’s attempts to fix prices all happened. The invasion of savage Asiatic tribes known as “Huns” was led by Attila, who with other Barbaric tribes, eventually overran the empire and plunged the world into what is known today as “The Dark Ages.”

I will leave it to you to decide if history is repeating itself. The story I have just told you is of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. Did you have another nation in mind? It’s something to think about, my friends!

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 is one of my favorite Generational Gems … one which should be passed on to anyone involved with the offer of service in any way.

Once there was a very unique gentleman by the name of Eddie Rickenbacker. He worked as a mechanic and laborer before becoming an American fighter ace in World War I as well as a Medal of Honor winner. He was also a race car driver and automotive designer, a government consultant in military matters, and a pioneer in air transportation.

After surviving the war, he started the Rickenbacker Motor Company to produce automobiles, but the venture flopped. Later, he tried to start Florida Airways, but that flopped too. As a result, he combined Eastern Air Transport with Florida Airways to form his most lasting and successful business endeavor—Eastern Airlines (1938 – 1991). His lifelong leadership of this major international transportation company left an indelible mark on the annals of air travel worldwide. Rickenbacker pushed Eastern into a period of extraordinary growth and innovation. For a time, Eastern was the most profitable airline in the post-war era.

Eastern Airline, one time official airline of Walt Disney World, was known for its exceptional customer service as a result of the insistence and leadership of Chairman Eddie. The following story, told by one of Eastern’s leadership staff members, explains why customer service was high on everyone’s priority list:

In the late 1940s, we were experiencing some major problems mishandling luggage. Rickenbacker tried everything to solve the problem but had little success. The entire leadership team attended a three-day leadership conference in Miami. As we arrived to check in at the hotel, we were informed that our luggage would be delivered to our rooms. We went directly into meetings, assembled for a late dinner, and finally retired to our rooms for the evening. We were shocked to discover our luggage had not arrived.

The next morning we all showed up at the morning session in the same clothes, unshaven, and very uncomfortable. Another day of constant training and strategy sessions, another late dinner, and we again retired to our room to find our luggage still had not yet arrived! Tempers flared, words were shared, and we spent a second very uncomfortable night.

Finally, at 3 a.m., the hotel staff banged on our doors to deliver our luggage. The next morning we arrived at our third day of meetings to be greeted by a stern-looking “Chairman Eddie” who said: “EMPATHY—the grandfather of all wisdom! Now you know how our customers feel!”

Within two weeks after returning home from that conference, we had solved the baggage problem and never again had to deal with it!

This entire country, especially the airline industry, would benefit from a few more great leaders like “Chairman Eddie”!

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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Everyone claims to understand the significance of communication and the critical role it plays in any successful venture. Why then do we see so many disasters attributed to the lack of or poor communication? Marriage, politics, warfare, negotiation and business success all hinge on the ability to converse with one another.

There are many aspects to productive communication, but the following two are essential factors which have the potential to make or break any situation: respect and empathy (identification with and understanding of another’s situation, feelings and motives).

Think about the following Generational Gem the next time you want a positive communicative outcome based on respect and empathy.

A man and his wife had been arguing all night, and as bedtime approached neither was speaking to the other. It was not unusual for the pair to continue this war of silence for two or three days. However, on this occasion, the man was concerned; he needed to be awake at 4:30 a.m. the next morning to catch an important flight, and being a very heavy sleeper he normally relied on his wife to wake him.

Cleverly, so he thought, while his wife was in the bathroom, he wrote on a piece of paper: “Please wake me at 4:30 a.m. I have an important flight to catch.” He put the note on his wife’s pillow, then turned over and went to sleep.

The man awoke the next morning and looked at the clock. It was 8 a.m.! Enraged that he’d missed his flight, he was about to go in search of his errant wife to give her a piece of his mind, when he spotted a hand-written note attached to his pillow right next to his head.

The note said: “It’s 4:30 a.m. Get up.”

RESPECT and EMPATHY!

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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