A Thanksgiving Attitude of Gratitude

This is the Thanksgiving weekend in Canada. I'm not sure why Canadians celebrate 6 weeks earlier than the US (actually, the first celebration of Thanksgiving was actually celebrated in Canada in 1578...43 years before the pilgrims arrived in Plymouth). Perhaps the pilgrims hung out here for our Thanksgiving and then spent some time devising a plan for what theirs would look like when they landed (could have happened.) Maybe they took a little sabbatical in Canada after the arduous journey across the Atlantic - you know, kind of a long, long-weekend to get rested up before they made history just south of Boston. Anyway, this is the weekend that Canadians give thanks.

You don't need to actually have a special day to give thanks. You are allowed to be thankful all of the time. Thanksgiving day is simply to remind you of what you should be doing the other 364 days of the year - being thankful for what you've got.

This year, during the toasts at the dinner table, more people will probably be giving thanks for having a job. There will also be a higher number of people who are giving thanks for their families, their health and their roof over their heads despite being jobless. I guess as Canadians, we could be thankful for the how quickly the economy has turned around. We are one of the first G8 countries to emerge from recession. We still have a ways to go but we are on our way. Things will be better soon.

An Attitude of Gratitude is needed to weather the tough economic storms. Finding your internal gratitude for all of the things that life throws at you not only makes you stronger, but actually increases your chances of success.

• Gratitude helps you attract more opportunity and better relationships.
• Gratitude generates far more success than does a sense of entitlement.
• Gratitude allows people to sleep better at night with less worry.
• Gratitude makes people happier, less stressed and overall better workers.
• And finally, people who possess an Attitude of Gratitude are chosen as leaders, are promoted more and are chosen for job positions more often than those who choose not to show their gratitude.

If ever there was a case to be made to give thanks for whatever it is life has handed you so far, that last point is the one that matters. Give thanks for all of it.
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The Recession: What’s In It For You?

General Motors, Chrysler, Air Canada and Canwest Global are “on the ropes.” They, of course, are all blaming the recession for their current situation. They won’t admit that they have been building sub-standard quality products or offering sub-standard service, sub-standard programming, over-extending and over-leveraging themselves when times were easy or possessing a “take as much out of the market while you can” attitude. No, it’s the fault of the recession. It’s much easier to point the finger squarely at something out of your control and not be accountable for your performance.

This time in our economy has been nothing more than someone pushing the “reset” button to weed out the weak, the lazy and the greedy. It’s easy to make money when everyone is flush with cash and many did. The challenge is in listening to what the market wants, what the market demands and what the market expects and give people what they want – not what business thinks they need. The companies who will survive this time in our economy will be the ones who deserve to – not the ones that have an entitlement attitude because of their tenure in history.

Last week, the Federal Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy reported that personal bankruptcies increased over 50% in March 2009 compared to March 2008. That’s “personal” bankruptcies. But what about business bankruptcies during the same period? Business bankruptcies have actually declined by 10% over the same period which means that when times were good in March 2008 there were more bankruptcies than there were when we are supposed to be in a recession. Business is actually doing better during this time in our economy because they are changing, adapting and responding to their customers in a positive way. For those businesses that are in trouble, natural selection and market cycles have a wonderful way of weeding them out.

Let’s not ever forget that you, as a consumer, vote with your dollars. You get to vote who stays in business and who doesn’t. You don’t vote for mediocre service and market complacency. No business is entitled to your money. Every single business should earn it. You get to vote for those businesses you want to succeed. In other words, if there’s nothing in it for you, why would you give your money freely to a business that is doing little for you?

As a consumer, you also get to choose whether or not you participate in this recession. Oh yes, you have a choice. You always have a choice. My friend Marty Park (www.martypark.com) said something so profound recently that I have been finding myself repeating it at every opportunity. He said, “The recession? I’m not participating.”

Here’s why you should make the choice right now as to whether or not you participate in the recession: what’s in it for you? No really, ask yourself what’s in it for you?

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: If there is nothing in it for you, do you participate in something anyway? Of course not. So why do you think that you NEED to participate in the recession? You don’t. Plain and simple, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. The economy is resetting itself. You have no control over that. Let it go and stop worrying. It doesn’t really affect most people. It’s your “personal economy” that’s most important right now. Spend a little less and save a little more. Make business work for your money. You’re in charge. Even during the boom times, people got laid off, got downsized and got squeezed by mergers. They just dusted themselves off and went and found a new job or went back to school to upgrade their skills. You can do that now too.

You’re still buying groceries, the lights are still on and the doors to work are still open for 92% of Canadians. What really has changed? Not much. In fact, in the last year, small businesses with fewer than 20 employees created 36,800 new jobs across Canada. Why can small business create so many new jobs? Because they respond to what customers want. Small business knows that consumers vote with their dollars.

Before you spend a dime today, think about whether or not the business you’re considering spending your money with is actually earning it or not. Don’t give business “pity money” because you feel sorry for them. Make them earn it. Most businesses, fortunately, are starting to figure that out. Those who don’t ever figure it out though, will join the list at the top of this article. But that’s not your problem is it?

Why Should You Be Hired?

My friend and mentor, Brian Stecyk, sent me an email recently in response to a Blog entry I had written called Memo From The Customer. In it, I mused aloud as to why front-line staff feels that everything else, other than serving me, is more important at the time of my transaction. All I was asking for is a little attention and a genuine thankfulness for my business – not a tall order really.

Brian sent along the following comments that included a great observation at the end.

Great column. Every time I interview someone, I ask them the question, "Why should I hire you?" I have received the following responses:

• Because I am nice.
• Because I need a job.
• Because I am a hard worker.
• Because you need someone.

But not once in 28 years has anyone ever said, "Because I will help your business earn a profit."

When I inform them of what I am looking for, I usually get an absolutely stunned response. It is as though the thought that they must make a contribution to the bottom line is heresy. On a couple of occasions, interviewees even remarked, "It shouldn't be all about money and profit." Obviously those people did not get hired. Without profit I cannot hire anyone.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: As the market heats up with increasing competition for the same numbers of jobs, what are you bringing to the table that is better than the last guy who was interviewed? What is it that you possess that you do better than anyone else?

At no time in history (I am guessing here) has a paycheck ever been handed to an employee with a little notation in the bottom left corner of the check that reads, “For Being Nice,” or “Because You Needed A Job,” or “Because We Needed Someone.” That’s not why you get hired.

If your Attitude on the job is one of “that’s good enough,” when it comes time for performance and pay review, your employer is likely to say, “What we’re paying you right now is good enough.” If you want to be paid more, you need to be valued more. If you want to be picked over all of the other job seekers, you need to have more value than they. If you want to be promoted, your number of years on the job aren’t enough – you need to be more valuable than the others being considered.

If you think you’ve gotten as far in your current job as you can go and you’re not the person running the place, then people don't think you're worth more and you obviously haven't given them any reason to think differently.

If you won’t do the work to get better, become more knowledgeable and to become the most valuable person in your organization, then why should anyone pay you more? That’s like paying more money for the very same item, made by the very same manufacturer at the store next door. Why would you pay more for it? It hasn’t been improved and it will do the same thing it always does.

What’s your edge? What makes you more valuable? What is demonstrably different about you?

Car Wrecks, Grieving Mothers And The Economy

You’ve seen it happen when a tragedy befalls a family. You see the media clamoring and jockeying for position to try to get an exclusive interview with the affected family members. Family members are in tears trying desperately to remain coherent and composed while facing the barrage of cameras and microphones shoved in their faces.

I get no pleasure from watching events like this. I don’t understand how the media can be so calloused as to think that someone who is suffering a personal tragedy would make for good TV. But they do it anyway because in order to boost ratings, the media feels compelled to put the most sensational, gut-wrenching and over-the-top footage on their newscasts. We, the public, love to watch a car-wreck. Events like this are sadly, just like that.

Shoving a camera in the face of a grieving mother is not factual – it’s sensational. Interviewing the investigating police officers of a crime is factual.

At the same time, we look to that same media for the facts of what is happening to our economy. If they will go through great lengths to make a personal tragedy sensational, wouldn’t it figure that they would do the same with every story – including the state of our economy.

There are many experts who believe that we are turning the corner in the economy right now. There are just as many who believe that we’re headed for more trouble. Those who think more trouble is ahead seem to get more than their fair share of the headlines. Those who think that our economy is on the upswing usually get buried in the story (for balance so they tell us). If you read only the headline and the first few paragraphs of a newspaper story, you get the idea that things are going to get worse.

In no less than twenty stories in various newspapers across the country in the past few weeks, I have found buried inside the dastardly-headlined stories, some hope, some optimism and some good news. But the headline rarely suggests that. My friend and business growth expert, Marty Park, made an interesting suggestion: start telling your friends that the recession is over and claim you heard it on the news. Watch how people react.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: Let’s not forget that the media is a business. After being a member of the media for eighteen years, I can tell you with no reservation that the media’s job is to sell advertising. Ads are easier to sell for those with a bigger share of the market. In other words, a bigger audience means bigger dollars. Make the headline sensational. Make it loud. Make it brash. And make it appeal to the inherent “car-wreck watching” parts of us.

The awards for best photo don’t go to photojournalists who shoot beautiful sunsets. They go to those who shoot tragedy. Journalism awards don’t go to reporters who write good news stories. They go to investigative reporters who uncover a major plot. Documentary awards don’t normally go news crews who tell happy stories of companies succeeding during tough times. Those awards go to crews who bring down the big multi-nationals.

Before you think that what you read in newspapers, see on television and listen to on radio is gospel truth, think about what the individual reporters are trying to do (win awards) and what the media companies are trying to do (win awards and raise advertising revenues). Journalism is “supposed” to be fair and balanced – but that doesn’t mean that the headlines have to be.

It’s your own personal economy that’s really most important to you anyway. Your own personal economy is turning the corner if you whatever is necessary to make it turn the corner. For the most part, what’s happening in the rest of the country or the world won’t have much effect on you personally if you look after your own personal economy (household, personal finances, revenue streams, etc.). Let’s keep our eyes on the ball and stop getting so spooked by organizations trying to profit from our difficulty.

3 Key Components To Succeeding In Today's Economy

Ray was a former Sales Manager of mine when I sold radio commercial time. Although I had been in radio for some sixteen years to that point, I had never formally been a sales representative. We had, as sales reps, monthly quotas to achieve. The numbers seemed daunting in a relatively new territory which I was taking over. I had also never actually sold radio airtime before. I just couldn’t figure out how I was going to achieve the monthly quotas that were expected of me.

Ray, in his wisdom from years on the street, simply focused me this way: “Kevin, if you look after the weeks, the months will look after themselves.”

Ray refocused me by showing me how to break down the monthly totals into four weekly performances – small manageable steps.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: This is good advice at any time in the economy, especially today. But there are three key components that you will need to consider to succeed in a resetting economy. Perhaps you may have overlooked these in the past few years.

1. Get rid of the need for record-breaking performance. Not every year is a record-breaking year. An organization can still do well in today’s economy if they are prepared to commit to creating relationships based on value with their clients and staff. Relationships based on money only will seriously be undermined and loyalty becomes non-existent. When you teach your clients and staff to buy based on price, then the guy with the best price wins. What are you offering as far as solutions go? People will pay a fair price for something they get tremendous value from. Sell your “value-proposition” and not your need to have a record-breaking sales year. What has that got to do with your staff’s and customer’s needs anyway?
2. Stop comparing to last year’s performance. Last year and the year before were boom-years. If you want a fair comparison, compare to 2002 just prior to the boom. (If we could only teach the media how to do this when they tell us how bad our economy is today.) But in relative terms, comparing apples to apples (2009 to 2002) we are about the same – perhaps a little better today. Make a fair comparison. Measure yourselves by the quality of your work and not the finances. Money is a lousy way to keep score. Customer satisfaction is a better way to check how you’re doing. Keep customers satisfied and they keep coming back. Look after the customers and staff and the dollars look after themselves.
3. Chop the deadwood. When times are good, you get fat. You get bloated. You feast at the table of the never-ending supply of money. You gorge yourselves and treat your lives like a drunken orgy of delights. Now is the time to get lean, to lose weight, to trim the fat. Because times were so good you had to hire people who were not necessarily the right fit for your organization. But you needed warm bodies and any body would do. But now is the time to eliminate waste. Companies are getting rid of programs that don't positively impact the bottom-line directly. Feel-good motivational stuff doesn't make people better salespeople, better workers or better managers. But change an attitude, a perspective or point of view and you can make a difference in the day-to-day functioning and results of any organization.

Now is the time for personal and professional leadership - not being paralyzed by the scare-mongering of the media. Now is the time to strike while a company's competitors are sitting on their hands waiting out the storm. Now is the time to create relationships with customers - not to agree that the sky is falling. Now is the time to bring value to the market - not just price. Now is the time to be bold while everyone else is being conservative. Now is the time to change minds - not agree with the media-induced perspective. (Even the media is in trouble - having spent the better part of the past year telling people that times are hard. It has come back to bite them in lower ad revenues. It's the old adage of what you think about, you bring about.)

People want to believe that there is something positive coming out of all of this and they want something to look forward to. People want a reason to believe that what they do matters and that they are valued. People want believe that they can still succeed in this economy. And I believe that they can. Anyone can. And I will argue to the death with anyone who believes anything to the contrary.

Look Who’s Talking

There is one very powerful voice today that is speaking to your staff, your customers and the customers of your customers. That voice is shaping purchasing decisions, growth strategies, corporate training, hiring practices, customer service models and your corporate culture. Left unchecked and unchallenged, that voice will continue to chip away at your bottom-line.

I’m not speaking of that one big dissenter within your organization that the rest of the staff wish would just go away or get fired. This one voice doesn’t even work for your company. It stands outside of your organization like a lone protester carrying a “The World Is Ending” picket sign and creates havoc and warns people that they had better not spend their money with you because tomorrow, there won’t be any money left. That voice is like a single mosquito in a tent at 2:00 a.m. – incredibly annoying until it has been squashed. But people are listening to that voice and they are making decisions about doing business with your organization based on that single voice.

Why are people listening to that voice? Because you’re not challenging that voice. You’re not engaging in the same public forum to reassure your customers and your staff that doing business with you is a good thing to do. That voice is doing huge damage to your organization right now because it is being allowed to singlehandedly make a lot of noise, disrupt your business, scare your staff and sully your customers.

That voice is the voice of the media who look for evidence every single day to justify the “Sky Is Falling” headline in their stories. And since there are very few opposite opinions telling their “good news” stories, that one voice is allowed to continue to dominate the discussion with your clients and staff. People are listening to the only one voice that seems to be talking. And since you’re not talking to your customers and staff, since you’ve decided to suspend training until the “recession” is over, that voice is allowed to dominate the market and potentially bring about the dire consequences it is predicting. Say something enough times and people start to believe it.

Had your decision to pull back training, or have a hiring freeze or take a “wait-and-see” attitude been done during a Boom-time, your decision would have been interpreted as a corporate strategy. People applaud corporate strategy. Most time corporate strategy makes an organization stronger at the end. During this time, however, any of those same decisions are perceived to be a reaction to the marketplace and makes each organization look like a follower and not a leader. It makes customers nervous. It makes staff nervous. And when customers and staff are nervous, you will see the evidence on your bottom-line.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: Yesterday, in the Edmonton Journal, read the following headline in 72 pt font: “City Economy Will Shrink In '09.” The truth is, in Edmonton, this year’s growth is expected to be down 0.2%. That’s zero point two percent folks – for a city. Is that even news? Of course it is – if your mandate is to sell newspapers. Make it loud. Make it scary. Make it a must-read and people will buy the paper. More papers sold means more advertisers attracted.

The story went on to explain that Edmonton’s growth will bounce back to 3.1% growth in 2010, and 3.8% in 2011 to 2013. But the headline doesn’t indicate that the 0.2% decline is short-lived. So, you, your customers and your staff read headlines like this (since virtually no one reads the whole story anymore) and start to pull in your horns a little. Everyone gets nervous and the nervousness spreads like a virus. Sorry, but to the average organization, a 0.2% decline in growth would only seem like a small correction in the market – not the basis for an outlandish headline.

I challenge you today, to find a good news headline in your organization and either call a meeting or send a company-wide memo telling your people about your positive growth story and do it every day. Ask your people to pass it on to your customers. Let’s start talking about what’s good in your organization and let’s start drowning out the voices of the dissenters. Those dissenting voices are not good for your business. Why are you allowing someone outside of your company to dictate the success of your organization? Speak up. Where’s your Leadership Attitude?

On Life’s Journey With A GPS

“Would you like to add a GPS to your rental today?”

It’s a question I was asked at the Rental Car counter. I think a GPS is great, especially the ones with the voice prompt that tells you to turn in 500 meters.

That’s a safe way to keep your eyes on the road. But a GPS can be a bit distracting when you already know the shortest and most expedient route to get where you’re going and the electronic voice wants to send you another way.

“Turn left at Main Street,” the voice may say but you drive right by because you think you know a better route. That’s when you hear the voice prompt announcing, “Recalculating,” as it recalculates another route to get you where you want to go.

How many times do you drive right by the opportunities in your life because you think you already know the better way?

You gave the company your loyalty in the Boom years and now you’re being downsized? Recalculating.

You got a university degree in a discipline that offered too few opportunities in an “Off-Boom” market. Recalculating.

You believed that employers hire the “highest marks” so you gave up networking opportunities to concentrate on your work and now you find your lower-achieving co-workers are being promoted ahead of you because they developed the necessary social-interaction and communication skills. Recalculating.

You thought that the Boom years would last forever and spent like a drunken sailor only to find yourself behind and the money train is leaving the station. Recalculating.

You believed that finding a job and working for a large company was the safest way to job security and now you learn that while the 500+ employee companies are laying off their people, small businesses under 20 employees are growing. Recalculating.

You still won’t make the move to start your own business even though now is the perfect time to strike out on your own giving you more security and freedom. Recalculating.

You refuse to shed your comfort zone even though the world, the economy and your life is changing. You refuse to stretch yourself which leaves you further behind every day you don’t adapt to the changes – all because you’re afraid of failing. Recalculating.

You live your life trying desperately to fit in with the rich people only to finally realize that you gave up who you are in the hopes you'd end up rich. Recalculating.

You grumble about others getting ahead, even in a normal economy (compare 2009 to 2002’s economy and you’ll see we’re at “normal”) and you still think that you’re entitled to have everything just handed to you. Recalculating.

You refuse to accept that others may know better than you how to get where you want to go but you don’t ask their opinions because you’re afraid you’ll look weak. Recalculating.

You condemn and criticize others who have the courage to chase their dreams in the hopes of somehow elevating yourself. Recalculating.

You know everything. Recalculating.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: There’s always another way to get where you want to go. Pay attention when others offer simple directions and stop making life so hard on yourself. Every road map has more than just one street.

Globe And Mail Feature

Sarah Boesveld, a reporter with Canada's largest daily newspaper The Globe and Mail, asked me a few questions this week on whether or not I think it's OK to be laughing during the economic downturn. My answers appear in her story in Monday's edition of the Globe And Mail.

I will endeavour to post the full story here on Monday.

UPDATE MONDAY MARCH 9: OK, so the story went in a different direction than what I was commenting on so my comments don't appear. Sorry for the false alarm. (KB)

Fear-Mongering And Its Results

Two big news stories came out yesterday. These stories were a perfect opportunity for the media to instill a little confidence in the public if done right. But good news stories don’t sell ratings.

One story told of how retail sales were down to their lowest level in fifteen years during Christmas 2008 compared to December 2007. The truth is most of the decline was caused by skidding car sales (right after the automakers bailout request) and lower gasoline prices (lower world oil prices). Excluding the automotive sector, retail sales were down only 1.8 per cent. But that part was glaringly absent from the news report.

In fact, one retailer interviewed even suggested that in December 2007, it was a stupid buying frenzy. Customers were hungry for anything they could get their hands on and would simply throw money at the retailers. “We couldn’t service our customers this way. It was awful,” he said. That part of the news story was buried.

The second story featured a recent survey by Harris Decima Research which showed consumer confidence in the economy at its best level since August. 27% of consumers felt that they would be better off in a year from now – up from only 20% who felt that way a month earlier. A whopping 41% of consumers felt now is the perfect time to make a major purchase – up from 35% a month earlier. This story wasn’t even featured in the TV news last night. The news outlet chose instead to feature a story about a woman who clips coupons to save money on her groceries – a story they featured as their third story overall. Clipping coupons is a news story? Really?

In fact, even the good news angle of the first story was ignored by the media last night. They chose to focus on the “worst numbers in fifteen years” which is at best a half-truth. The second story about you and me feeling more confidence in our economy was ignored because good news doesn’t sell commercial-time.

Now before you get to thinking that I was watching Fox News, let me set you straight. I watched Canwest Global news.

Canwest Global is in its own predicament right now. If Canwest Global can’t secure a financial lifeline before the end of this month, it will be forced to seek bankruptcy protection. And yet it still chooses to run the “sky is falling” stories which keeps advertisers and investors away. They are forcing their own demise. There’s no news department without money to run it. You’ll never sell advertising time to people while you’re telling them it’s an awful time to be spending money. That is not leadership. That is fear-mongering. And what goes around comes around.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: If you keep telling your customers how bad it is your customers are going to find another company to buy from. What you need to be doing is talking to your customers and your employees about how good it is. You need to be instilling confidence.

Now is a time for leadership. Leaders don’t scare their people to death and expect them to be able to confidently serve their customers well. Leaders look for opportunities while others cower in their corner offices waiting for the sky to fall.

Make sure you’re instilling confidence in your customers and employees. You have two choices: to instill confidence or to instill fear. What is the good news that your organization should be telling your people and customers right now?

The Fine-Print Attitude Adjustment

So what do you think would happen if you stood up in a public forum and announced, “Our Company is in trouble and we now need a big injection of cash to keep our company going. If we don’t get the cash injection, we will be forced to lay off a lot of our workers, we will have to consider closing some of our plant locations and our future as a viable company will become tenuous at best.”

Do you think that a public declaration like that would inspire customers to continue doing business with you?

Well that’s exactly what the big automakers did in late 2008. And guess what? The report came out today saying auto sales dropped substantially in December. Now who would have ever thought that people would stop buying cars when the car makers say that they’re in trouble?

Has your organization stopped spending because of the media-induced, economic-crisis hysteria? Many companies say that they have stopped spending but not for things they need. If your computer crashed today you would be buying a new one tomorrow because a computer is necessary to get the work done. So companies are still buying. They’re just ensuring that they get value for their money.

Many companies have ceased their training and management meetings and conferences – yet continue to pay the Meeting Planner on-staff who is planning no meetings. That seems like a senseless waste of a good salary. Ceasing training at this time is just about the most ridiculous idea an organization could follow.

It’s right now that your people need reassurances that your company or organization is solid. It’s right now that your workplace needs a shot of courage and conviction. Many of your competitors have rolled up their sails and are waiting out the “storm.” But there is no storm. It’s a media-induced frenzy. And if you’re buying it, you’re hurting your own bottom-line.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: So what message are you sending your customers? What message are you sending your people? You see, whatever you say to your people is going to be the same thing your people say to your customers.

Let me repeat that one: whatever you say to your people is going to be the same thing your people say to your customers.

So stop catastrophizing (or making up words).

So how bad is it really out there? Well, outside of car sales, retail sales fell 1.8 per cent in December. 1.8 per cent. Are you kidding me? The mass hysteria is about a 1.8 per cent drop in retail sales in December – which is compared to December 2007. That was the month, if you recall, that retailers were surprised by how much we were spending. We overshot expectations in December 2007 and evened it out in December 2008.

Do not let your organization suffer from the media-induced, ratings-grabbing, hysterical headlines. Read the fine print. Get the information for yourself. Pay attention. Don’t panic and for goodness sake, don’t panic in front of your people or your customers.

Now is the time to give your people a shot in the arm – not a kick in the teeth. Now is the time to arm them with confidence – not uncertainty. Now is the time to give them an attitude adjustment on what’s really happening in the marketplace – not rumours and supposition. Now is the time to rise above the cowering competitors and take a bigger market share.

Now is the time for leadership. Leadership is an Attitude.

The 2% Economic Attitude Adjustment

I’m getting fed up with the media hysteria of the state of our economy. Sensationalism and ratings-grabs are leading the news these days and it’s sickening. Companies and their “Chicken Little” CFO’s are buying into the hysteria while sitting on piles of reserve cash. The sky is NOT falling. In fact, we’re perhaps better off than we were two years ago. How so? Think this way: the Canadian economy for the past three years was running too hot. When you run a car too hot, you do more damage to the engine than when you run it at a constant speed within the “moderate” range. When a machine gets too hot, it needs to slow down to allow the engine to cool a little. In other words, what we’re experiencing right now is a simple push of the “Reset” button. That’s how Canadian Business Magazine has described this time in our economy.

Now if you want to witness an economy out of control, let’s go back to Canada in the early eighties. The unemployment rate was over 12%, inflation was 12.5% and interest rates were over 20%. Twenty percent! Compare those figures to today (January 2009): unemployment at 7.2%, inflation at 1.07%, and the Bank of Canada Rate for January was 1.25%.

So, because the interest rates and inflation rates are so low right now, let’s just take a look at just the unemployment rate and talk about it. On average in Canada, for the last ten years or so, the unemployment rate has run around 5.2%, which means that 94.8% of people who wanted to work were working. Today, 92.8% of people who want to work are working. That’s a two percent difference folks. Two percent! How would a drop of two percent affect your business? No really. Seriously answer that question. Is your business on the brink of financial ruin with a drop of two percent in the employment rate? Seriously?

Interest rates are so low that borrowing money is almost free. Inflation is so low that you can almost guarantee that the prices you pay today will be virtually the same prices tomorrow. The market is consistent with its own performance over the past five years for the most part. So what’s with the panic?

Many people think attitude training is hokey and it's a soft skill that you can do without. But the truth is that if your people are quoting chapter and verse from the media about the sky falling and your people end up passing that uncertainty along to your customers, your customers are going to be uncertain about doing business with you. The attitude of your people transfers to your customers.

US President Obama has recently made a commitment to reduce the US deficit of 1.3 trillion dollars by half within the next four years. In doing so, the plan is to stimulate the economy by creating new jobs. When President Bill Clinton did the same in the nineties, he got rid of the deficit. And guess what happened? He produced 24 million new jobs. The US had eight years that were the most successful in the second half economically of the 20th century.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: The truth is Attitude, in this time of economic uncertainty, is far more important than fluff like Time Management. It's the attitude of your people, when they speak with customers, which will make you a winner in a “down” economy. It's Attitude that keeps your people's perspective in check when they hear the media say the sky is falling. It's Attitude that will cause your people to realize that business is in the toilet if you "believe" that business is in the toilet. If your people accept that they can't be successful while times are supposed to be hard, then you may as well close your doors until the economy gets better because you are going to bleed red ink.

Attitude is perspective. Change the perspective and you change the results. You can't do the same thing the same way everyday and expect to magically succeed. But once you change someone's perspective, once you change how they see problems, once you change how they believe things can be, you change results.

There are companies around the world who are succeeding in spite of the "economic downturn." Would you be willing to take the time to find out their secrets? I'll save you the trouble. Companies become successful when they don't allow excuses, reasons or justifiers to stand in their way. The Economic Downturn is nothing more than a convenient excuse for companies doing poorly. That excuse lets business off the hook for being mediocre. That's simply "Attitude" in play.

Leadership is an Attitude. Service is an Attitude. Safety is an Attitude. Success is an Attitude. Winning is an Attitude. Perspective is an Attitude.

None of it is measurable or tangible. But you won't find a single successful organization without it.

If your people are scared when they work or deal with clients, you're doomed. If they've got Attitude, there isn't a single thing that will ever stop them from achieving.

So, what's your next step?

Memo From The Customer

I think I missed a memo recently. I must have. The memo I missed apparently stated that if you are a cashier, a salesperson or even a “sandwich artist,” feel free to have conversations with your co-workers, your friends and other complete strangers while “serving” your current customer.

When exactly did the person with the money (the customer) become the least important part of a front-line worker’s day? Recently, it seems that almost every store I have gone into has someone at the front counter who needs to have a conversation with someone else (not work-related) that is more important than accepting my money. How can everything in a cashier’s day be more important than my willingness to exchange goods and services for money? Did I miss that memo?

In response, here is my memo.

Memo to: The front-line staff of all organizations
From: The Customer
Re: Performance review

It has come to my attention that you have been ignoring me lately. Although nothing has been said directly to me, your performance in the role of customer service has become suspect. I wish to address that here.

Your willingness to make eye-contact with me and to acknowledge that I have chosen to part with my hard-earned money has made me feel as though you really don’t care that I am in your establishment willing to purchase something. I am simply asking that, for the few minutes I am in your business, that you keep your conversations focused on what I would like and, most of all, be thankful for my willingness to frequent your work place. I feel compelled to address this issue as I have noticed it lacking of late.

I am becoming incredibly frustrated at being ignored while I am in the midst of purchasing something. I (the customer) am the revenue source for your business. I (the customer) am the guy who keeps the lights on in your business and gives you the revenue stream to pay for silly little expenses like … oh I don’t know … staff!! I (the customer), in this so-called economic downturn, am the difference between your business going down and your business thriving. Unless there is a fire, ask yourself, is there really something more important that you feel you must handle before you handle my transaction?

Do you really need to create conversations with others about how tired you are, how long the day has been or how many minutes are left before you can head to the bar to hang out with your friends? If I were your boss would you ignore me as I stood in front of you so that you could carry on meaningless conversations with friends or co-workers? Well, how about you think of me as your boss – simply in the fact that I pay you indirectly.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: The secret to customer service is to simply be present in my dealing with you. I don’t want to feel like I’m imposing on you when I buy something from you. I want to hear “Thank you.” I want you to mean it when you say it. You can tell me to “have a nice day” or not – that’s really not important to me. A simple “thank you” is all I require.

For this performance review, I need you to improve in only two areas: 1) your attitude of gratitude when I choose to part with my money in your business, and 2) your focus and attention on me for the few moments I stand in front of you.

Failure to comply with these performance issues will cause me to fire you as a company I do business with. You have been warned.

New Car Attitude Adjustment

Sales are slumping in the auto sector right now. The big car makers are feeling the pinch of an economic slowdown. Personally, I don’t believe that the economic slowdown is as bad as the media are making it out to be. In fact, I have yet to meet or speak with one person who has directly suffered any hardship at the hands of the economic slowdown (I’m not saying they don’t exist – I just haven’t met any of them).

Granted I live in Alberta and yes, we have a pretty strong economy still. And in the same way that you can’t run a hot engine forever without letting it cool down so you can do some repair and upkeep, we are in a cool-down period right now – as we gear up for the next rush. There are a lot of companies and organizations who are hiring right now. These are the same companies who are thriving in a “down economy.”

If you want to buy into the doom and gloom of how the media is portraying the economy right now, well then that’s your choice. Just remember, that you bring about what you think about.

Do I think you need to rush out and buy a new car to help the economy? Nope. In fact, if you don’t “need” a new car, why on earth would you saddle yourself with extra debt just because it’s on sale or the financing is cheap? I could sell you one of my speeches right now and you would be able to use it (the learning) for years to come but do you have the extra cash just lying around to pay for it?

I was walking across the parking lot of a conference facility last week on my way to my car. Now, let me tell you about my car. It’s a 2001 Hyundai Elantra with 5-speed transmission and a little rust forming around the fenders. It’s not a pretty car. It’s not an extravagant car. It’s a useful car that just happens to look a little weathered. It gets me 47 miles to the gallon on the highway and drives quite well. But it’s a little ugly.

I was asked once, as I was crossing the parking lot of a conference center, which car was mine: the BMW, the Lexus, the Mercedes? I simply said, “the Hyundai Elantra.”

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: I guess the perception is, as a professional keynote speaker, I am supposed to be driving a brand new luxury vehicle since I supposedly speak on success. Well, the truth is, I don’t speak on success. I speak on Attitude – Leadership Attitude. Leaders don’t waste their money on cars that they don’t need. Leaders don’t need to impress people – they could care less what others think of them. Leaders do what needs doing and buy what they need.

So here’s the truth of what I do with my car. My car sits for days on end in airport parking lots, hotel parking lots, conference center parking lots and rental car parking lots. The car is ignored and left alone for days on end. The doors get dinged, it’s exposed to elements and little care is given to the car because there are no parking lot attendants. It’s a surprisingly comfortable car to drive and has high reliability ratings.

Knowing that your car is going to be exposed to carelessness and weather, would you buy an expensive car that you would need to “baby” or would you buy something that thieves wouldn’t look at a second time? I still have my car because it’s never been stolen. It’s a little ugly but it’s incredibly reliable. I owe nothing to a bank because I paid cash for it. The car owes me nothing. My car and I have the perfect relationship – it gets me where I’m going safely and I don’t expend a lot of energy worrying about it. Perfect.