Bad Weather? Slide On In For Greater Success!

“O what a beautiful morning…”

No, I’m not going to sing that song, but Tulsa, Oklahoma is socked in by an ice storm!

Along with 110,000 AEP Public Service customers (that’s customers, not people), my wife and I have no power at home and from reports it could be the 18th before all power is restored. Just north of my driveway, a huge tree is across the road. It took us almost 30 minutes to get the ice off the cars (contractors used my garage to store building materials left over from fixing my roof and side of the house from our last storm).

As I drove downtown to my office, I dodged downed power lines and tree limbs, carefully navigated intersections with no signal lights and avoided nuts driving way too fast. My wife, who also has a office downtown (in another building) elected to hazard the trip to check on her main office that is about ten miles from our home. Like me, she figures this is a beautiful morning!

So, why do we say this is a “beautiful morning?” Well, for one thing there will be fewer distractions. People aren’t focused on work on days like this which means there will be fewer frivolous phone calls, less interruptions and a better opportunity to have quality conversations with those people we want to contact who have braved the elements to be at their desk.

I learned this many years ago from the late Victor Kiam, the man who, several years ago loved the razor some much he bought the Remington Shaver company. Mr. Kiam was a road salesman before buying Remington. In his book, “Live To Win” he talks about loving the bad, snowy weather they experience in the north and northeast where he lived. Why? Because no other salesman would get out in it and he had the buyers who came to work all to himself!

Now, I’ll leave you to ponder the application of this edition to your career because I’ve got phone calls to make to hiring managers and executives who’ve little else to do but talk to me!
Have a great and profitable week!
Robert Hidde
bob@confidentliving.com