The Story of 3 Brothers

This story was shared through an email I received. It reminds me that every day we are faced with task and how we approach these tasks ultimately defines our success and can determine our value. This story does an excellent job of illustrating these points.

Some years ago, three brothers left the farm to work in the city. They were all hired by the same company at the same pay. Three years later, Jim was being paid $500 a month, Frank was receiving $1,000, but George was now making $1,500.

Their father decided to visit the employer and find out why each son was being paid a different amount. The employer listened to the confused father and said, "I will let the boys explain for themselves."

Jim was summoned to the supervisor's office and was told:"Jim, I understand the Far East Importers has just brought in a large transport plane loaded with Japanese import goods. Will you please go over to the airport and get a cargo inventory?"

Three minutes later, Jim returned to the office. "The cargo was one thousand bolts of Japanese silk," Jim reported. "I got the information over the telephone from a member of the crew."

When Jim left, Frank, the $1,000 a month brother, was called. "Frank," said the supervisor, "I wish you'd go out to the airport and get an inventory of the cargo plane which was just brought in by Far East Importers." An hour later, Frank was back in the office with a list showing that the plane carried 1,000 bolts of Japanese silk, 500 transistor radios, and 1,000 hand painted bamboo trays.

George, the $1,500 a month brother, was given identical instructions. Working hours were over when he finally returned."The transport plane carried one thousand bolts of Japanese silk," he began. "It was on sale at sixty dollars a bolt, so I took a two-day option on the whole lot. I have wired a designer in New York offering the silk at seventy-five dollars a bolt. I expect to have the order tomorrow. I also found five hundred transistor radios, which I sold over the telephone at a profit of $2.30 each. There were a thousand bamboo trays, but they were of poor quality, so I didn't try to do anything with them."

When George left the office, the employer smiled. "You probably noticed," he said, "that Jim doesn't do what he's told, Frank does only what he'd told, but George does without being told."

How can we be more like George today not only in your business dealings but personal life as well?

Hope you enjoyed.

Remember Great Days don’t just happen, Go out and “Make it a Great Day”

What Does Your Echo Say?

On a daily basis, what are we telling ourselves about who we are? What are we telling others about ourselves? How does this reflect on our interactions with others? This is a great story and someone shared this with me a few years back. I wish I knew who the author is to give appropriate credit. Enjoy.

A son and his father were walking on the mountains. Suddenly, the son falls, hurts himself and screams, "AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
To his surprise, he hears the voice repeating, somewhere in the mountain: "AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
Curious, he yells, "Who are you?"
He receives the answer, "Who are you?"
Angered at the response, he screams, "Coward!"
He receives the answer, "Coward!"
He looks to his father and asks, "What's going on?"
The father smiles and says, "My son, pay attention."
And then he screams to the mountain, "I admire you!"
The voice answers, "I admire you!"
Again the father screams, "You are a champion!"
The voice answers, "You are a champion!"
The boy is surprised, but does not understand.
Then the father explains:
"People call this ECHO, but really this is LIFE. It gives you back everything you say or do. Our life is simply a reflection of our actions.

If you want more love in the world, create more love in your heart. If you want more competence in your team, improve your competence. This relationship applies to everything, in all aspects of life; life will give you back everything you have given to it.Your life is not a coincidence. It's a reflection of you!"

Making a Difference with a Personal Mission Statement

I started my career in sales like many others: doing whatever it took to make the sell and counting commission dollars along the way. I had a mentor that suggested not to count commissions, but to count quantity of production. He also advised to take the word sell out of my vocabulary and replace it with the word help. It took me a while to grasp this approach and it wasn’t until I had another mentor whom suggested developing a personal mission statement. Her personal mission statement was “To Improve the Quality of Life for the People I Serve”. I liked her personal mission statement so much that with her permission I adopted and made it my own.

This personal mission statement governs every interaction with the people that I serve. Who do I serve? My direct reports, my boss, other departments within our organization, our customers, and our agents that sale our products, my family, the youth sports teams I coach, my church, my friends and the list goes on. Identifying who I serve was just part of the equation, but how do you improve their quality of life? What I do is try to be one’s advocate, looking out for others best interest, making every interaction as positive as it can be, doing what is asked and helping them grow. Sometimes my products are not the best match for a client. If I am an advocate for that person then I need to make honest recommendations. Admit mistakes and don’t hide them. Take a genuine interest in others and watch how you can make a difference.

Once I adopted this personal mission statement and started living it out, my life changed. Sales grew and relationships deepened. I have another friend who has a personal mission statement that I love: “Helping Others Grow" She uses this similar to the way I use mine. As a VP of Sales, this governs her interaction with her staff, family and in her church. It’s a wonderful way to live – “helping others grow”

Email me your favorite personal mission statements and I will post them in the future.

Remember Great Days don’t just happen they are made. Make it a Great Day!