Are You a Nice Person?
It’s a holiday weekend so today’s message will be short and sweet.
Don’t be rude to people…especially, especially, especially your loved ones!
As a dear friend and person who I look up to says,
Hug your kids.
Words to Live By
At times we develop and grow… not from a book, not from a Web site, not from a video, not from a seminar, not from a lesson, not from a Webinar, not from a teacher, not from our manager, not from our customer, not even from our dog. Often times we gain perspective and grow from a few well chosen words.
To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of objective people and endure honest criticism; To appreciate beauty; To find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, by a well-raised child or social improvement; To know even one person has breathed a little easier because you lived; To accomplish this is to have succeeded. – Harry Emerson Fosdick
Are You Proud to be a Technician?
If you are a contractor owner or manager, it’s probably best that you didn’t read this. If you’ve been reading along here at The Technician Shop, you know that one of our greatest desires is to help you. But today we are going to discuss a cold, harsh reality that you might take the wrong way. Better that you just let this one be. Thanks so much for your understanding.
The idea for The Technician Shop first came to me in 2004 when I began to question, who out there was trying to help technicians with their work, career and education? I ran my idea by a person of whom I had tremendous respect for. This gentleman was a warrior. He crusaded for a professionally, improved contractor world. While he loved contractors, he knew they were a stubborn lot and slow to make changes for the better. So he battled them toe to toe, hammering home his you-need-to-change-viewpoint and the reasons that you did. As a ballplayer, I never hit that many home runs, but my hero was Babe Ruth. As a professional, I didn’t have (and still don’t) what it took to battle contractors, but this guy did and he was my hero. So when he spoke, you can best believe I listened.
He said, “I caution you about asking contractors what they are looking for in Techs, they don’t really know yet. Better to ask Techs what would make being a tech job a proud job to have.”
So, why are you proud to be a technician?
The Waitress
One second before we… Ohh, that’s the doorbell. Can someone please answer that and let our imagination in?
Of course, if you’d rather sit there and listen to me tell you how you have to sell more stuff…
Did you ever think about how a waitress could control her own destiny? The better service that she renders, the more tips she makes, right? Maybe her service is so good people will want to return and ask to be seated in her section. What do you think her boss will think when people continue to ask for her? And how do you suppose she feels – to know that her customers appreciate her.
As a technician, do you suppose it would be to your advantage to have customers asking for you? How do you suppose your manager would feel about customers continually asking for you?
Over time, if you pay attention, you’ll learn what customers appreciate about the service you render. Today, we’re going to let you in on a trade secret that successful waitresses use. You’ll no doubt begin to get positive results from it right away too. Here it is:
Show the customer that you are glad to be there, glad that she is your customer.
Remember, small steps forward. No worries. We’ll continue to talk about other ways of helping you at the point of customer contact, but for now, let your customer know that you are glad to be there.
Photo by sourjayne on Flickr
Living in More Than One World
I read like a fiend…books, magazines, newspapers and online. But The Technician Shop is not about me. As much as I’d like to shout out what I’ve read, for the most part I will not*. Technicians are inundated with information. Maybe more like bombarded. I am most sensitive to the time you have for personal development. So when I recommend a book or resource, it’s with this in mind. The books I do recommend will be bite sized and easy to read, or I’ll point to certain parts of a book that are relevant to you.
Today, I’m recommending the whole darn book. Living in More Than One World by Bruce Rosenstein. Bruce’s book is based upon the teachings of perhaps the greatest management teacher of all time, Peter Drucker. Living in More Than One World is all about you, not your manager (though it would be to him in his own sense).
Bruce’s book is centralized around what he calls a total life, which consists of family, friends, work, education, associates and affiliation groups. What caught my eye is how this philosophy parallels what I described in It’s All About You.
In an interview with Bruce, Peter Drucker described people who were satisfied and content as those who lived in more than one world. A quick view of the book’s chapters will provide more clarity:
- Designing your total life
- Developing your core competencies
- Creating your future
- Exercising your generosity
- Teaching and learning
- Launching your journey
Early on in the book you will note that Bruce writes this book for knowledge workers, a term that Drucker coined back in the 1950′s. Here is his definition:
People who work with what they know and can learn and who thus own and control their own means of production. Their knowledge is portable and not dependent on any particular employer or industry.
You might have heard that knowledge workers are white collar workers. They are, but technicians who are frequently described as blue 
collar workers, also fall into this class. Maybe even more so, as continuing education is almost mandatory for technicians who must engage their minds before they can engage their hands.
Living in More Than One World is an excellent, MUST read book! By the way, Bruce’s book is hot off the press. Recommend a copy to your coworkers and manager.
*I have read extensively on marketing, writing, design, management, personal branding and leadership and would be happy to recommend books, learn your point of view or trade information away from this forum if you’re interested.
Image by NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center
