AchieveMax® Blog

I’m sure there are many reasons for poor communication in this complex world of ours, especially in the U.S. during what appears to be one of the most chaotic times in our history. For the first time, our workplace consists of four generations at one time. This fact is often overlooked when searching for communication challenges.

One of the most obvious, but often ignored, differences between people is their age. Does a person’s age influence how they respond to a message? Absolutely! While hierarchy, ethnic culture and gender have tended to dominate prior discussions on tailoring communication, research by academics and practitioners on so-called “Generation X” and their successors suggests that when communicating, equal attention ought to be paid to age differences.

Research data on this subject is plentiful. However, the following Generational Gem may well simplify the challenge of communicating across generations.

The Little Old Lady

There was once a very nice lady who was a little old-fashioned. She was planning a week’s vacation in Wisconsin at a particular campground she hadn’t visited in decades. She decided to write ahead to make certain of the accommodations in advance.

Utmost in her mind were the toilet facilities. However, due to her sheltered upbringing, she couldn’t bring herself to write the word “toilet” in a letter. After considerable deliberation, she settled on “Bathroom Commode.” However, when she wrote it down, it still sounded too forward to her, so she wrote the letter to the campground and referred to the bathroom commode as the “BC.” She simply asked if the campground had their own “BC.”

Upon receiving the letter, the young campground manager was baffled by the euphemism so he showed the letter around to several other campers, but they couldn’t decipher it either. Finally the campground owner figured the woman must be referring to the location of the local Baptist Church so he sat down and wrote:

“Dear Madam,

I regret very much the delay in answering your letter, but I now take pleasure in informing you that a “BC” is located just nine miles north of the campground and is capable of seating 250 people at one time. I admit it’s quite a distance away if you are in the habit of going regularly, but no doubt you will be pleased to know that a great number of people take their lunches along and make a day of it.  They usually arrive early and leave late.

“The last time my wife and I went was six years ago, and it was so crowded we had to stand up the whole time we were there. It may interest you to know that right now there is a supper being planned to raise money to buy more seats. They are going to hold the fund raiser in the basement of the “BC.” I would like to say it pains me very much not to be able to go more regularly, but it is surely no lack of desire on my part. As we grow older, it seems to be more of an effort, particularly in cold weather. If you decide to come to our campground, perhaps I could go with you the first time, sit with you, and introduce you to all the other folks. Remember, this is a friendly community.”

For some reason, the elderly woman made other plans!

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

You probably never expected to see the above words in the same sentence. However, finish this article, and you’ll quickly see the obvious connection.

Last month we celebrated Administrative Professionals Day, formerly known as Secretary’s Day. This month we celebrate National Receptionists Day. These special days were set aside to recognize the work and tremendous contributions of secretaries, administrative assistants, receptionists, and other administrative support professionals.

Having worked closely with this particular group of very talented and experienced specialists over the years, I personally feel they should be operating under a new title: “The Secret Service.” More often than not, what these talented professionals do is in the background and not completely noticeable to the rest of us. And yet, we know who really runs the business these days, now don’t we? By the way, most everyone at C-Level (CEO-CFO-COO-CIO, etc.) would agree with that statement.

“The Secret Service” are responsible for a variety of administrative and clerical duties necessary to run an organization efficiently. They serve as information and communication managers for an office; plan and schedule meetings and appointments; organize and maintain paper and electronic files; manage projects; conduct research; and disseminate information by using the telephone, mail services, Web sites, and e-mail. They also may handle travel and guest arrangements. But any administrative assistant worth his or her salt will tell you this barely scratches the surface of everything they do.

The good administrative assistant knows intimately how the office functions. While all offices look the same on the surface, each office is different, often influenced by the industry it serves. Some have a more casual chain of command, some are very formal. In the office, the experienced administrative assistant knows, for instance, which faxes are important and which are trash; what snail mail can be safely discarded; which e-mails must be forwarded to the boss, and which he or she can deal with. The administrative assistant also deals with the public in many offices and is a source of general information. He or she will also probably be responsible, at least in part, in training new office staff. She has to know how to work with a variety of office equipment, and may be experienced enough to do minor repairs.

Overworked, underpaid? Maybe, but one thing is obvious. Many of them are not given enough credit and recognition for their crucial roles in the work place. Despite this they wear smiles on their faces and carry a grim determination in their hearts to make their bosses succeed. “The Secret Service” are the heroes in the work place. Yet they don’t get the credit, thanks, praise, and devotion that they richly deserve as they take initiative to make things happen and always seem to be the “go to” person for everyone in the organization.

Here’s a Generational Gem that will explain everything:

Even Cannibals Know the Difference!

A big corporation hired several cannibals. “You are all part of our team now,” said the HR manager during the welcome briefing. “You get all the usual benefits, and you can go to the cafeteria for something to eat, but please don’t eat any of the other employees.” The cannibals promised they would not.

A few weeks later the cannibals’ boss remarked, “You’re all working very hard, and I’m satisfied with you. However, one of our secretaries has disappeared. Do any of you know what happened to her?” The cannibals all shook their heads, “No,” they said.

After the boss left, the leader of the cannibals said to the others angrily, “Right, which one of you idiots ate the secretary?”

A hand rose hesitantly in admission. “You fool!” said the leader. “For weeks we’ve been eating managers, and no one noticed anything, but nooo, you had to go and eat someone important!”

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Total involvement and shared responsibility by everyone at every level is key to the success of any organization in today’s challenging world of change, competition, and survival.

The following Generational Gem illustrates the critical need for everyone to understand that all members of the organization have something to add and should strive to make certain that they each play their role.

Shared Responsibility

My apologies if this story is well-known to you. It’s an old joke, yet a useful illustration for various themes. A mother repeatedly called upstairs for her son to get up, get dressed and get ready for school. It was a familiar routine, especially at exam time.

“I feel sick,” said the voice from the bedroom.

“You are not sick. Get up and get ready,” called the mother, walking up the stairs and hovering outside the bedroom door.

“I hate school, and I’m not going,” said the voice from the bedroom. “I’m always getting things wrong, making mistakes and getting told off. Nobody likes me, and I’ve got no friends. And we have too many tests, and they’re too confusing. It’s all just pointless, and I’m not going to school ever again.”

“I’m sorry, but you are going to school,” said the mother through the door, continuing encouragingly. “Really, mistakes are how we learn and develop. And please try not to take criticism so personally. And I can’t believe that nobody likes you—you have lots of friends at school. And yes, all those tests can be confusing, but we are all tested in many ways throughout our lives, so all of this experience at school is useful for life in general. Besides, you have to go, you’re the Principal.”

And so it is in the workplace as well. The President of the Board, the CEO, and Vice Presidents throughout the organization must “show up” ready to contribute as readily as every front-line employee on the payroll. The responsibility, successes, failures, and all resulting consequences must be shared by the entire organization. In today’s chaotic world, the presence or lack of shared responsibility can and will make a critical difference.

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

To celebrate National Time Management Month, I’d like to share an age-old Gem which was written by my favorite author, “Unknown.” Although it’s been handed down over the decades, it never ceases to offer a very relevant lesson which can benefit everyone in today’s chaotic world. Why not continue the tradition by passing it on to a member of today’s generation. You’ll both be glad you did!

$86,400 a Day

Imagine you were a member of a very unique bank which:

1. credits your account each morning with $86,400
2. carries over no balance from day to day
3. allows you to keep no cash balance whatsoever
4. and every evening cancels whatever part of the amount you had failed to use during the day

Under those guidelines, I imagine you’d draw out every cent every day, wouldn’t you?

Well, believe it or not, every one of us has just such a bank. The name over the door reads TIME.

Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds!

Every night it writes off, as a loss, whatever of this amount you have failed to invest in a productive purpose.

It carries over no balance.

It allows no overdraft.

Every day it opens a new account for you.

Every night it burns the records of the day.

If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours.

There is no going back. There is no drawing against “tomorrow.”

You must live in the present on today’s deposits.

Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success!

The clock is running. Make the most of today.

Carpe Diem! Seize the day!

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

I am far from being a radical person. However, I can’t help but wonder if we, as a society, have grown too complacent for our own good. At what point do we simply say “Enough, already!” Again, this is not a political concern. This is definitely a leadership issue.

TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, and the Internet have done a pretty good job of allowing us to get some insight into how our “leaders” in Washington, D.C. are dealing with what very well may be the greatest financial crisis in the history of our country. To be honest, it scares me!

Remember our initial exposure to the financial sector bailout? All focus was on the figure of $750 BILLION … yes, $750 BILLION! Say that figure out loud slowly. Isn’t it amazing how mundane it sounds? It’s almost as though that was the amount we spent at the mall over the weekend. And yet, that’s quite a bit of money.

How much is it? Consider this:

• A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
• A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
• A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
• A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
• A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

As I said, a BILLION is a large number. Now consider the fact that Bloomberg TV analyst Mark Faber, author of the “Gloom Boom Doom” report, recently declared that the initial proposal of $750 BILLION for the financial sector bailout will actually cost closer to $5 TRILLION!

How much is a TRILLION?

Short and sweet, a TRILLION ($1,000,000,000,000) is 1,000 billions!

If you counted to a TRILLION out loud, one number per second, it would take you 31,688 years to complete the task! A stack of $100 bills totaling $1 TRILLION would be 789 miles high OR 144 Mt. Everests stacked on top of one another!

Now consider the fact that our political leaders in Washington, D.C., from both parties, are so effortlessly tossing around both terms while never mentioning the fact that this bailout money will come out of OUR pockets. This is complacency.

What really concerns me is the fact that WE have accepted this rhetoric with very little, if any, rebuttal or concern. This too is complacency!

Dictionaries define complacency as: “the feeling you have when you are satisfied, especially when unaware of upcoming trouble.” Does this not describe our current status in light of the financial sector bailout and the auto industry rescue? $5 TRILLION plus!

This entire scenario reminds me of an age-old Generational Gem involving a complacent frog and a kettle of boiling water.

The story’s origins are rooted in nineteenth-century physiological literature. An article co-written by G. Stanley Hall from 1887 indicates that many experiments were performed on frogs in the 1870s and 1880s for the purposes of determining how reactive their nervous systems were to various types of stimuli. Another source lists an experiment done in 1882 at Johns Hopkins which produced similar findings.

The theory was simple. They say that if you put a frog into a pot of boiling water, it will leap out right away to escape the danger.

However, if you put a frog in a kettle that is filled with water that is cool and pleasant, and then you gradually heat the kettle until it starts boiling, the frog will not become aware of the threat until it is too late. The frog will soon pass out and eventually die … unaware of any threat. The frog’s survival instincts are geared towards detecting sudden changes.

This parable is often used to illustrate how humans have to be careful to watch slowly changing trends in the environment, not just the sudden changes. It’s a warning to keep us paying attention not just to obvious threats but to more slowly developing ones.

Remember a tough little Texan businessman, Ross Perot, who ran for President in 1992? He appeared on network television with charts and graphs to warn us of the very financial industry threat we now face. His illustrations were ridiculed by seasoned politicians insuring his defeat.

Threats of the U.S. auto industry demise have been evident since the 60s. However, at the time, the water in our kettle was obviously room temperature. Are you starting to feel the heat?

This same complacency has led to the extinction of tens of thousands of U.S. businesses in the past year. It’s all a matter of leadership.

The next time you hear a politician use the words “billion” or “trillion” in a casual manner, remember our friend the frog. Inform your “leaders” in Washington, D.C. that the water in our kettle is reaching the boiling point!

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

I’ve been watching with great interest as the nation’s banking institutions continue to act and react in ways that are unacceptable, unexplainable, and unchallenged by those in Washington, D.C.

I’ll spare you the details you’ve been hearing daily for months now. However, I can’t help but wonder if someone in authority didn’t see this coming. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had received some advance warning that would have allowed us to prepare for this crisis?

Well, it turns out that we did have that much needed warning, and it came from someone we’re quite certain knew of what he spoke. And he gave us plenty of time to prepare.

In 1802—yes, more than 200 years ago—Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States (1801-1809) and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), said:

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”

On a more personal note, I recently received this quote in an e-mail from my son, Chad, who today is a budding businessman and proud father of two young sons of his own. Upon reading the e-mail, I had to reflect back on his high school days when I tried to inspire him to take an interest in business, politics, and what was going on in his world. Of course, at that time, my words were falling on deaf ears. Or so it appeared. He seemed to have other more pressing concerns such as his friends, his car, music and sports. Unbeknownst to me at that time, maybe he was simply practicing the fine art of prioritization. Maybe he just filed away my words of wisdom until a more appropriate time. I must admit that I often hear him advising his boys with words which sound fairly similar to what I shared with him years ago.

And the frosting on the cake … today he’s educating me. We’ve come full circle and he, too, will someday experience that joy with his own boys.

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

I’m currently in the process of facilitating several leadership programs with some terrific clients. Each is a long-term series in which we cover a wide variety of leadership tips, tools and strategies.

We tackle one exercise which is a lot of fun but, at the same time, illustrates the power and importance of tapping our full potential as individuals by simply utilizing the many resources we possess but often overlook or take for granted.

In asking just ten basic, very simple questions, I quickly illustrate that seldom can any one individual in attendance answer all ten queries correctly. In fact, rarely does anyone even come close. However, at the same time, we quickly discover that collectively, by combining the education and experience of everyone in the room, we quickly answer all ten questions correctly in less than 30 seconds!

The point of course is quite obvious. This same truth holds true in the workplace as well. We all bring something different to the table in the areas of education, experience, creativity, enthusiasm, and attitude. By tapping the collective resources of the entire team, there are few, if any, challenges which can’t quickly be transformed into opportunities.

It is only the wisest and most successful organizations that practice this obvious strategy on a regular basis. This simple philosophy leads us to the following Generational Gem. To better understand the true moral of this story, one must be aware of the definition of resource: "a source of supply, support, or aid, especially one that can be readily drawn upon when needed."

A very young boy wanted to play catch with his daddy. However, there was a stone in the middle of the baseball diamond that needed to be moved before they could play. The enthusiastic youngster told his dad, "I’ll move it and then we can play." He struggled very hard but simply couldn’t budge the stone.

His dad asked, "Are you sure you’re using all your strength?"

"Yeah Dad, I am."

He tried again but the stone simply wouldn’t move. His dad then walked over to the youngster and helped his son move the stone. As he did so, he said to his little-leaguer, "Son, until you ask me to help you, you aren’t using ALL your strength!!!"

What a great lesson for all of us. We each have many resources at our disposal at all times that we may very well be overlooking. We need to use ALL our strength, all our resources at all times!

PAUSE, IDENTIFY, UTILIZE, SUCCEED, APPRECIATE, CELEBRATE!

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

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!

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

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!

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

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.

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.