The following short test should cause you to pause and hopefully think about one of the more important things in your life. Grab a pad and see if you can answer these questions. You might be surprised.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade’s worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is none of us remember the headliners of yesterday … and these are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields! But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here’s another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name two friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name three people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.
6. Name half a dozen heroes whose stories have inspired you.

Easier? The lesson? The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards.

They are the ones that care. If at all possible, take a moment from your busy schedule and offer them your thanks and appreciation—while you still can.

Then proceed to attempt to get yourself on someone else’s list … mentor, teach, share. You’ll feel as good about your effort as they will.

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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When we usually hear evidence of irony, it’s connected to a negative example. That just seems to be the way things work. However, once in a great while, we come across an example that brings a smile of content and satisfaction to our lips and tremendous delight to our heart. The motives may vary but the results remain the same. This is one of those wonderful stories.

A highly successful Human Resources Manager was tragically stricken by a bus and killed instantly. Her soul arrived at the Pearly Gates, where St. Peter welcomed her by explaining: “Before you get settled in, we have a little problem … you see, we’ve never had a Human Resources Manager make it this far before and we’re not really certain sure what to do with you.”

“Oh, I see,” said the woman. “Can’t you just let me in?”

“Well, I’d like to,” said St Peter, “but I have higher orders. We’re instructed to let you have a day in hell and a day in heaven, and then you are to choose where you’d like to go for all eternity.”

“Actually, I think I’d prefer heaven,” said the woman.

“Sorry, we have rules …” at which St. Peter put the HR Manager into the downward bound elevator.

As the doors opened in hell, she stepped out onto a beautiful golf course. In the distance was a country club; around her were many friends — past fellow executives, all smartly dressed, happy, and cheering for her. They ran up and kissed her on both cheeks and they talked about old times. They played a perfect round of golf and afterwards went to the country club where she enjoyed a superb steak and lobster dinner. She met the Devil, who was actually rather nice, and she had a wonderful night telling jokes and dancing. Before she knew it, it was time to leave; everyone shook her hand and waved goodbye as she stepped into the elevator. The elevator went back up to heaven where St. Peter was waiting for her.

“Now it’s time to spend a day in heaven,” he said.

So she spent the next 24 hours lounging around on clouds and playing the harp and singing, which was almost as enjoyable as her day in hell. At the day’s end St Peter returned.

“So,” he said, “you’ve spent a day in hell and you’ve spent a day in heaven. You must choose between the two.”

The woman thought for a second and replied, “Well, heaven is certainly lovely, but I actually had a better time in hell. I choose hell.”

Accordingly, St. Peter took her to the elevator again, and she went back down to hell.

When the doors of the elevator opened, she found herself standing in a desolate wasteland covered in garbage and filth. She saw her friends dressed in rags, picking up rubbish and putting it in old sacks. The Devil approached and put his arm around her.

“I don’t understand,” stuttered the HR Manager, “Yesterday I was here, and there was a golf course, and a country club, and we ate lobster, and we danced and had a wonderful happy time. Now all there’s just a dirty wasteland of garbage and all my friends look miserable.”

The Devil looked at her and smiled. “Yesterday we were recruiting you, today you’re staff.”

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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Here’s a Generational Gem that should be shared with young people as early as possible. If they understand the message and begin practicing this philosophy, they will certainly experience greater success early and often. They can apply it in school, church, community, and later as they enter the work force. This would certainly be a much better world if it were practiced by everyone.

You’ll note that it was written by quite possibility the most prolific poet and writer of all time … Anonymous.

Read, enjoy, practice, and benefit immediately!

“Echo – This Rule of Nature”

A man and his son were walking in the forest. Suddenly the boy trips and feeling a sharp pain he screams, “Ahhhhh.”

Surprised, he hears a voice coming from the mountain; “Ahhhhh.”

Filled with curiosity, he screams, “Who are you?”, but the only answer he receives is: “Who are you?” This makes him angry, so he screams, “You are a coward!” and the voice answers, “You are a coward!”

He looks at his father asking, “Dad, what is going on?”

“Son,” he replies, “pay attention!” Then he screams, “I admire you!” The voice answers, “I admire you!” The father shouts, “You are wonderful!” and the voice answers, “You are wonderful!”

The boy is surprised, but still can’t understand what is going on.

Then the father explains, “People call this an ‘ECHO’, but truly it is ‘LIFE!’ Life always gives you back what you give out! Life is a mirror of your actions. If you want more love, give more love! If you want more kindness, give more kindness! If you want understanding and respect, give understanding and respect. If you want people to be patient and respectful to you, give patience and respect! This rule of nature applies to every aspect of our lives.”

Like the ECHO, LIFE always gives you back what you give out. Your life is not a coincidence, but a mirror of your own self.

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 hard to argue with the fact that you get what you focus on. It’s not only conventional wisdom, but it’s been proven time and time again. Most everyone has heard of the Pareto Principle … known to most as the 80/20 Rule. Let’s add another formula to your repertoire. It’s the 95/5
Principle.

The most productive people will focus on their challenges, limitations, barriers, and problems only 5% of the time. And when they do so, that time is focused on overcoming these negative restraints. They invest 95% of their time and energy on identifying and creating resources to pursue responses and solutions to removing those restraints.

Ross Perot (computer billionaire, philanthropist, and independent Reform Party candidate for U.S. president in 1992 and 1996) was a man who lived by this principle, practiced it in every aspect of his life, and taught those he mentored to do the same. In the book, Irreconcilable Differences: Ross Perot Versus General Motors, we learn that he was the founder of Electronic Data Systems (EDS) in Dallas, Texas. Perot was refused 77 times before he got his first contract. The company ultimately became a multibillion dollar corporation employing more than 70,000 people.

Perot sold EDS in 1984 to General Motors for $2.5 billion. He retained ownership in the company, which made him GM’s largest individual stockholder and a member of the board of directors. Perot applied his 95/5 focus at GM, butting heads with GM head Roger Smith almost daily.

The all-talk, no-action philosophy of GM at that time in history looked much like the reverse of the 95/5 Principle. Perot simply couldn’t tolerate such ignorance. He was best known for this observation of the GM culture:

“When someone sees a snake at EDS, we kill it! When someone sees a snake at GM, the first thing they do is form a committee on snakes. Then they bring in a team of outside consultants on snakes. They write a strategic plan for getting rid of snakes. Then six layers of managers delegate someone to kill the snake.”

Perot knew that if you don’t kill the snake when it’s small, you might be dealing with a monster later.

Perot was so insistent on this strategy that he became a thorn in GM’s side. In 1986, GM bought out Perot’s stock for $700 million! Two years later, he started a new computer service company, Perot Systems, which operates in the United States and Europe. Historians claim GM would be much better off today had they heeded the suggestions of Perot at that time rather than buying him out.

To be successful, focus much less (5%) on the challenges, limitations, barriers, and problems and much more (95%) identifying and creating resources to pursue responses and solutions to removing those restraints. You’ll find the results phenomenal!

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’m currently preparing a commencement address for one of many graduating classes who are about to enter the next phase of their lives. This group happens to be in Florida, but consider, for a moment, how many young people from coast to coast are approaching this milestone.

The U.S. Census Bureau tells us that 3.3 million high school diplomas will be awarded this year and just over 3 million college degrees will be conferred on campuses all over the nation. Add that to the 1.2 million projected high school drop-outs, and we’re looking at close to 8 million young people who are about to embark upon what must be an exciting, but frightening, journey.

Some will go on to the next level of education, some into the work force, and some into military service. While a good education is a wonderful thing, it’s only a spoke in the wheel of what they need to face the challenges which await them. Other elements might include experience, street smarts, luck, common sense, support, role models, good advice and the wisdom which only a mentor can provide.

I consider this assignment to be a rare privilege as well as an awe-inspiring responsibility. At this moment, I really don’t know what I’m going to say to these students. However, in researching many possibilities, I know what I’d like to share with every adult in the nation as these young people prepare to enter society at a time in which they must face a great number of daunting challenges.

In reviewing those elements I mentioned earlier which may be of assistance to these graduates, you’ll quickly see that many of them can be provided by US — you and I … as mentors. And it doesn’t have to stop with students. We can pave the way and make the journey a little less ominous by sharing whatever knowledge and experience we may have gained over the years with anyone who has not yet had that opportunity.

I can best summarize the power and importance of mentoring by sharing another Generational Gem that was written by an acclaimed author who was born in 1860. I mention this date as I find it amazing that this short poem is as applicable today as it was at that time. Maybe even more so. “The Bridge Builder” was written by Will Allen Dromgoole in 1900. She also wrote over 7,500 poems, 5,000 essays, and published 13 books. This particular poem remains quite popular to this day and has even graced plaques on real bridges across the country. It is also used by many fraternities to promote the idea of building links for the future and passing the torch along to the next generation.

Read it over and consider the importance of your role in passing this critical torch to those facing the many growing challenges we see today. Then do something about it!

THE BRIDGE BUILDER
An old man, going a lone highway,
Came, at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast, and deep, and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.

The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
The sullen stream had no fear for him;
But he turned, when safe on the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.

“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim, near,
“You are wasting strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again will pass this way;
You’ve crossed the chasm, deep and wide-
Why build you this bridge at the evening tide?”

The builder lifted his old gray head:
“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There followeth after me today,
A youth, whose feet must pass this way.

This chasm, that has been naught to me,
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him.”

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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Author John Gardner once said: “Most ailing organizations have developed a functional blindness to their own defects.” We seem to have more ailing organizations today than at any time in our recordable history. Today, there are a multitude of businesses who are involved with a merger, acquisition, bankruptcy, or simply going out of business.

“Functional blindness” appropriately describes many of today’s company policies. Some are so antiquated it causes one to pause and wonder if anyone ever reads the manual any longer. Where did these ludicrous thoughts, posing as policy, originate?

The National Association of Human Resource Absurdities conducted extensive research in the 50s in hopes of answering that very question. Their findings were both revealing and authenticated via multiple experiments and findings. However, they chose to conceal their findings for the simple reason that they felt society was not ready for such a revelation.

Fifty plus years later they have apparently decided that the business world has matured to the level that the truth can and must finally be accepted. For those of you who may doubt the authenticity of the research results, please feel free to conduct your own experiment. It’s actually very simple.

Begin with a cage containing five monkeys.

Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it.

Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana.

As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water. After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result, and all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon the monkeys will try to prevent it.

Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth.

Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked. Most of the monkeys that are beating him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey. After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why not? Because as far as they know that’s the way it’s always been done around here.

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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The majority of the Generational Gems we’ve shared with you thus far were revealed to me in my late 20s and early 30s. I firmly believe that had I been exposed to this wisdom a mere decade earlier, it would have altered my career path in a much more productive way.

That’s why we’ve decided to share these gems with you … in the hopes that you may find them educational, entertaining, humorous and worthy of being passed on to younger generations. Maybe, just maybe, exposure to one of these gems might just cause someone to pause, consider other options, re-frame their thinking or simply be a little more open-minded to a different approach.

Today’s gem is another that has been passed down from generation to generation and happens to be created by my favorite author … “Anonymous.” It has certainly stood the test of time because of its simplicity and the vivid images it thrusts upon every reader.

There is a legend of three horsemen crossing the desert in the middle of the night. Suddenly, out of the darkness came a thunderous voice commanding them to dismount and fill their pockets with pebbles. After they had obeyed and remounted, the voice declared, “Tomorrow at sun-up you will be both glad and sad.”

When dawn came, each of the three horsemen reached into their pockets and discovered not pebbles, but diamonds. Then they were both glad and sad — glad they had taken as many as they had, sad that they had not taken even more!

And so it is with opportunities! Life presents us with many possibilities. We sacrifice far too many for reasons we no longer remember … fear, uncertainty, timing, lack of education or experience, possibility of failure and the list goes on. You can change that pattern TODAY.

Take a calculated risk! ACT outside that proverbial box! Expand your current comfort zone. Try something new! Find a mentor. Ask questions. Do research. Take a class. Benchmark. Read. Observe. Listen. In short … take action! Although each of these activities appear simplistic in nature, their value as critical strategies cannot be denied.

To avoid the regrets of the three horsemen who missed an opportunity, consider adapting the above strategies in your search and recognition of the many opportunities which await all of us. Hopefully you’ll never have to utter those sad words: “If I had it to do over.”

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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Can you imagine being born in a major league baseball city and years later actually playing pro ball for your home town? That alone would be a great achievement, and that’s exactly what happened to Pete Rose. However, “Charlie Hustle” didn’t stop there.

Pete went on to become the all-time Major League leader in hits (4,256), games played (3,562) and at bats (14,053). He won three World Series rings, three batting titles, two gold gloves, one Most Valuable Player award, the Rookie of the Year Award, and made 17 All-Star appearances at an unequaled five different positions (2B, LF, RF, 3B & 1B). Pete earned his nickname of “Charlie Hustle” in every game he played. He’s the only player I ever saw who would sprint to first base even when being walked and his signature move was his thrilling headfirst slide into a base. In short, Pete Rose, was an inspiration to fans both young and old. He went on to manage the Cincinnati Reds for six years after retiring as an active player.

Like so many of today’s great athletes, Pete’s career will forever be viewed under a cloud of accusations. Rose agreed to permanent ineligibility from baseball after being accused of gambling on baseball games while playing for and managing the Reds.

This issue will be debated as long as fans discuss the sport. However, what can never be argued is this man’s ability, accomplishments, tenacity, discipline, determination, personal drive, and hustle. Here’s an example which we should be able to adopt to our personal and business endeavors.

Pete was being interviewed in spring training the year he was about to break Ty Cobb’s all time record. One of the many reporters in attendance asked: “Pete, you’re only 78 hits away from breaking the record. How many at-bats do you think you’ll need to get 78 hits?” Without hesitation, Pete stared at the reporter and very matter-of-factly said, “78.” The reporter laughed and quickly replied, “Ah, come on, Pete, you don’t really expect to get 78 hits at 78 at-bats do you?”

At that point, Pete calmly shared his philosophy with the group of reporters who were anxiously awaiting his reply to this seemingly boastful claim. “Every time I step into that batter’s box, I expect to get a hit! If I don’t expect to get a hit, I have no right to step up to the plate in the first place!”

“If I go up to bat hoping to get a hit,” he went on, “then I probably don’t have a prayer of getting a hit. It’s my positive expectations that has gotten me all of the hits I’ve gotten so far. Without it, I may as well stay in the clubhouse!”

Pete expected no less from all of those he managed later in his career. This is certainly a message we should take to heart ourselves while making certain we pass it on to future generations. It is truly a philosophy of a champion!

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 enduring narrative was written in 1934 by Dale Wimbrow, an author, songwriter, artist, writer, singer, and painter. He left this world at the very young age of 58 in 1954. In honor of their love and respect for their father, his son and daughter have given permission to any and all to share this particular poem as long as it’s duplicated precisely as it was written and their father is credited.

Over the years, many thought the last word in the first line was a typo and therefore simply changed it from “pelf” to “self,” which appeared to be the obvious replacement. The author actually meant to use the word “pelf,” which means money, wealth, or riches … and that word obviously makes sense. The author’s offspring also points out that, over the years, many people have renamed the poem “The Man in the Glass” but go on to point out that their father’s original title utilized the term “Guy” rather “Man.”

After what seems like an eternity of exposure to our current Presidential candidates, I can’t help but wonder how each of them might respond to this classic poem. I can easily surmise how they might verbally comment to potential voters, but it would be interesting to know how each would truly respond to this powerful challenge. What do you think?

And how about you?

The Guy in the Glass
When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf,
And the world makes you King for a day,
Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that guy has to say.
For it isn’t your Father or Mother or Wife,
Who judgement upon you must pass.
The feller whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the guy staring back from the glass.
He’s the feller to please, never mind all the rest,
For he’s with you clear up to the end,
And you’ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the guy in the glass is your friend.
You may be like Jack Horner and “chisel” a plum,
And think you’re a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you’re only a bum
If you can’t look him straight in the eye.
You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you’ve cheated the guy in the glass!

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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Here’s a generational gem that I first heard from one of my high school coaches. It’s been updated over the years, but that’s only made it even more powerful. I’m very fortunate to have been able to work with high school and college students for decades now, and I must admit that I’m a bit dismayed that this particular gem has not been shared more than it has. I think it’s a message that needs to be revealed, especially today, to both students and adults alike. There are far too many reasons for people to say it can’t be done, the odds are against us, no one’s ever done it, etc. More than ever before, this country needs many more possibility thinkers than we see at the moment. Maybe reviving this particular generational gem may help us move in that direction!

Prior to 1954, the thought of a human running a mile in less than four minutes was considered impossible to the majority of those in the medical and sports fields. It had never been done before this time and experts stood firm in their belief that this was a plateau that the human body simply wasn’t capable of attaining. Now or ever.

For Roger Bannister, a young English athlete from Oxford, this proclamation became a battle cry, an ultimate goal he was determined to reach. Roger was a goal setter … a possibility thinker. He always had been. Regardless of what experts may have thought, Roger set his sights to be the first man to run a mile in under four minutes. What historians seldom share is the number of times Roger failed in his attempt to reach this lofty goal. No one wants to hear that because that was exactly what everyone expected would happen.

Then, on May 6th, 1954, during a meet between British AAA and Oxford University at Iffley Road Track in Oxford, Roger Bannister achieved his goal. This historic event was witnessed by about 3,000 spectators. Just prior to the event, winds were recorded at close to 25 miles per hour, and Roger considered waiting for better conditions to attempt this ambitious feat. However, the winds died down and Roger ran the mile in 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds! He went on to become a distinguished neurologist and Master of Pembroke College, Oxford, before retiring in 2001. While this is a great story illustrating the importance of possibility thinking, goal setting and determination, there’s an even greater lesson to be learned here.

Once Roger proved to all “impossibility thinkers” that this inconceivable goal could be achieved,  it changed the nature of the thinking about the four-minute mile from negative — it can’t be done — to positive — I can do it.

Within seven weeks, Australian John Landy became the second man to achieve a sub- 4 minute mile, recording a world record time of 3.57.9. In 1964, Jim Ryun became the first high school runner to break four minutes, running 3:55.3 as a junior in Kansas. In the next 15 years, Bannister’s record was broken 260 times by men in 177 races!

Over the years, I’ve had occasion to work with many “impossibility thinkers.” It’s difficult. They take the path of least resistance. They take great pride in the fact that they can provide you with a thousand reasons why something won’t work. They thrive in negativity. They dwell in the majority. They’ll drag you down if you let them. Possibility thinkers set goals, focus, train, continue to learn, practice, take action and never give up. At this point in time, the world needs more possibility thinkers. Is that you?

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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