Aside from managers who who care only about themselves and their numbers, most managers are not your opponent. When it appears that your manager is opposing you, most likely it’s when they are not reviewing their own game film. But that’s another story. Today it’s about you reviewing game film of your manager.

For you to succeed you must know what your manager expects out of you. These points can be found on your manager’s game film. Who exactly is filming your manager you ask? You are. The film is rolling when you discuss your performance or when you’re getting direction on a project or at service meetings when you share dialog with your manager. You should collect and record this intel.

I’ve suggested elsewhere at The Technician Shop that you keep a notebook. Truth of the matter? I’ve recommended the practice of keeping a notebook to hundreds of techs over the years. All top notch, high level techs have them. I was trying to reach those who didn’t. I bet not more than ten ever took me up on my advice.

Okay, I’ve got another idea! Create your own film…for real. Sit down in front of your computer’s webcam and record yourself telling yourself about the intel that you’ve collected. Follow along here while I pretend to be a tech and shoot a quick film on myself…

Dave looking into camera: “Wassup holmes? You look like a pack of feral managers ate half of you for lunch son!”

Dave being serious: “The light bulb went off today. After two years I finally figured Jim out. When he sees that I am taking a class on my own or I am spending time on the internet trying to learn something – he goes out of his way to make my life easier. I can’t believe it. He even offered to give me a half day off on Friday with pay – no strings attached. I gotta keep doing this. But I gotta make sure I’m telling Jim what I’m doing.”

Dave’s mom in background: “Who are you talkin’ to Davo?”

Davo: “I’m talkin’ to myself Essay!”

Dave signing off as he winks to himself: “Okay now you good looking brother, this was fun! Who needs Reality TV when you got Reality You dog?”

To keep track of your films you could set up various categories like the ones I listed in the above link. You could have a blast with this! You could even invent a make-believe personality, shoot films about how this cat is succeeding with his manager, and post them to You Tube.

Duct Tape Marketing

Free e-book from Duct Tape Marketing on social media for business

Barack 2.0 Barack Obama’s social media lessons for business

Barack 2.0 (the book)

Organizing for America – The main Web site that Barack Obama used (and is still using) for his campaign efforts. Note the links on the first page (lower right hand side) to the various social media outlets that he used.

Social media marketing from Copyblogger

Social media marketing from Chris Brogan

Where social media is going from Read Write Web

Social media sites from Career Overview

The following are links to books that I recommended:

HVAC Spells Wealth by Ron Smith

Inside Contracting by The Service Roundtable

Do You Matter? How great design will make people love your company by Robert Brunner & Stewart Emery

Socialnomics How social media the way we live and do business by Erik Qualman

RSES does want to change. I had written a note to them stating why I had left their organization years ago. I was candid and straightforward. I was merely voicing an opinion. It turns out that RSES published this opinion in their October journal. In the past , from my experience, an industry media publication would NEVER print what I wrote. By doing so they exposed not only past weaknesses but a present situation where one of their people did not follow up on something that I was trying to help them with.

RSES actions took courage. Clearly RSES wants to change. This was a tremendous move on their part. For those of us who care, how could you not want to help them?

It is my perception that RSES is building one mean educational machine. It is clean, customized and cherry. It is begging to be driven. Driven by passionate technicians who care for their craft. The thing is, the more passionate techs on board, the more that they can influence where the machine is driven! An opportunity of this magnitude only comes around every two or three generations.

If you are an HVACR technician, join RSES today. Join and become involved with your local chapter. If the chapter is not moving forward, developing and educating techs, contact headquarters. In twenty-five years in this profession I can never remember an organization more open to suggestions and change.

If you are a member of RSES I encourage you to join Twitter and Facebook and spread the word to others. RSES has made the commitment to stop the insanity and to move forward. Welcome to the 21st Century! Now lets strap in and kick in the afterburners.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Nucleus Medical Media

There are a couple of ways that we might be of use to you. They involve your contractor customer and its technician-employees.

Technicians – You catch glimpses into their world when they visit your will-call counter or attend your training. We’re looking for technicians who are professionals, have a passion to learn, develop and grow. We’re looking for technicians who care about family – even if they have no living relatives.

If you know technicians who fit this description, tell them about The Technician Shop. Yes, it’s nice to get more readership here. But it’s not about how many readers we can get. It’s about helping that one technician grow. Think about the act of referring technicians to The Technician Shop as providing a resource  – because you are.

Contractors – Management in the trades need a lot of help. They are usually busy and have their hands full (remember the last time you visited their office?). So we are trying to help them by teaching technicians to help themselves.

In addition to professional development, we teach technicians what to look for in a good manager and quality company. These characteristics can often be helpful to other contractors who are looking to professionally develop. Again, consider it as providing a resource.

You know that contractors appreciate donuts. But you also know that the quality contractors are not going to be persuaded to do more business with you because you give them donuts. The key is to help them get better at what they do. Providing resources is a great way to help!

If you work for a smartly designed and well run company, you will be giving yourself an opportunity to provide the best care for your family and a means to take care of yourself as well.

For the sake of our discussion, if a company is operating with high profitability, yet the owner shows obvious disrespect towards coworkers and customers, it is not a well run company.

As at technician, just how in the world can you really tell if the company is smartly designed and run well? It starts with the owner and trickles down through management. At the core is what’s at the core of these people. Are they decent human beings working out honorable values in the workplace? You’ll notice that we attempt to explore this premise when we talk about the things quality managers do here at The Technician Shop. In subsequent posts we’ll attempt to reveal honorable values and talk about the humanistic things that quality managers are made out of. Today however, we are going to zero in on an invaluable resource that can show us what a smartly designed and well run company looks like.

I mentioned previously that if I recommend a book, it will be after I have given much care and consideration to its value to you, the technician. I so get that you do not want to get bogged down in books. I am thinking that your ability to provide for your family and the opportunity to take care of yourself are of great value to you. So, here’s a book that you need to get: HVAC Spells Wealth by Ron Smith.

Ron teaches contractors how to build a high quality and successful organization. Ron is from the HVAC business, so that’s what he writes about. But this book’s message applies to any type of residential and light commercial contractor.

Read HVAC Spells Wealth and learn how a well run company operates. Then compare it to yours. Ron’s book will also come in handy when choosing whether or not to accept employment from another contractor.

Go here for Free Trade Magazine Subscriptions.

Here are two sites that will help you to drill into all about digital cameras:

Digital Camera Resource Page – This site provides reviews, a buyer’s guide, a forum to talk to others about photography, camera specs and comparative pricing.

Digital Photography School – This site is about photography tips, camera reviews and what to do with the pictures you took. When you cruise around this site, take note of the site’s language and how information is presented. A benefit to often reading a site like this will be an improvement in your ability to write invoices and other items of written communication. If you read enough, your writing skills will improve without you even being aware of it.

Here is a link to Flu.gov, a governmental Web site with great info. Go here.

Here’s the deal, you can read up and inform yourself about swine flu. It’s good to be in the know about such things. But it is GREAT when you place other people in the know…like your customers.

Instead of just handing out your business card when you’ve completed a call, jot down a Web site (like one of the above), on your business card and when you hand the card to your customer, let him know about the info.

Ok, let’s play make believe for a minute. Pretend that at the start of every day you are given one thousand dollars  in one hundred dollar bills. It is your job to pass the bills out to your customers. After a couple of really positive reactions to your kind deeds, you begin to look forward to passing out more. And, you can hardly wait for the next day’s allotment of cash.

To a degree, this is how you’ll feel when you begin to pass out valuable information like links to swine flu info to your customers. And, you’ll notice yourself looking for other tidbits of value that you can pass out.

Because you do not want to let a good deed go unnoticed, make sure you give your manager a sample of whatever you’re passing out.