An Excerpt from

The 100/0 Principle

by Al Ritter

What is the most effective way to create and sustain great relationships with others? It’s The 100/0 Principle: You take full responsibility (the 100) for the relationship, expecting nothing (the 0) in return.

Implementing The 100/0 Principle is not natural for most of us. It takes real commitment to the relationship and a good dose of self-discipline to think, act and give 100 percent.

The 100/0 Principle applies to those people in your life where the relationships are too important to react automatically or judgmentally. Each of us must determine the relationships to which this principle should apply. For most of us, it applies to work associates, customers, suppliers, family and friends.

* STEP 1 – Determine what you can do to make the relationship work…then do it. Demonstrate respect and kindness to the other person, whether he/she deserves it or not.

* STEP 2 – Do not expect anything in return. Zero, zip, nada.

* STEP 3 – Do not allow anything the other person says or does (no matter how annoying!) to affect you. In other words, don’t take the bait.

* STEP 4 – Be persistent with your graciousness and kindness. Often we give up too soon, especially when others don’t respond in kind. Remember to expect nothing in return.

At times (usually few), the relationship can remain challenging, even toxic, despite your 100 percent commitment and self-discipline. When this occurs, you need to avoid being the “Knower” and shift to being the “Learner.” Avoid Knower statements/ thoughts like “that won’t work,” “I’m right, you are wrong,” “I know it and you don’t,” “I’ll teach you,” “that’s just the way it is,” “I need to tell you what I know,” etc.

Instead use Learner statements/thoughts like “Let me find out what is going on and try to understand the situation,” “I could be wrong,” “I wonder if there is anything of value here,” “I wonder if…” etc. In other words, as a Learner, be curious!

Principle Paradox

This may strike you as strange, but here’s the paradox: When you take authentic responsibility for a relationship, more often than not the other person quickly chooses to take responsibility as well. Consequently, the 100/0 relationship quickly transforms into something approaching 100/100. When that occurs, true breakthroughs happen for the individuals involved, their teams, their organizations and their families.

The 100/0 Principle The Secret of Great Relationships could be the most important book you’ll ever read. It also makes a terrific gift for friends, family members and employees on your team.

An excerpt from

Inspiration 365 Days a Year

by Zig Ziglar

Reading has been the fuel of my motivation, it has changed the direction in which I have traveled, and it has enhanced my creative imagination more than any other activity I have ever pursued. I’m now in my eighth decade of living and I still read several hours a day. Why? When I can hook up old information with new information the combination of the two creates perspectives that could never have been achieved otherwise. New information makes new and fresh ideas possible.

I read for the “ah-ha’s,” the information that makes a light bulb go off in my mind. I want to put information in my mind that is going to be the most beneficial to me, my family and my fellow man, financially, morally, spiritually, and emotionally. I seldom read anything that is not of a factual nature because I want to invest my time wisely in the things that will improve my life. Don’t misunderstand; there is nothing wrong with reading purely for the joy of it. Novels have their place, but biographies of famous men and women contain information that can change lives. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale’s, “The Power of Positive Thinking” changed my thinking. The Bible changed my believing. Ultimately, what I have read has changed my being.

If the “ah-ha” I get when I’m reading is not already reduced into one or two sentences, I’ll take the essence of what I’ve read and chunk it into easily remembered bites of information. That information is what becomes “quotable.” You would not sit still for me to read every book I’ve ever read to you. But if you’re the least bit like me, you’ll jump at the chance to bypass all the churning and scoop the cream right off the top – that is what quotes are…the cream of our learning.

The right quote can inspire people to change their ways. I love to quote my mother, “Tell the truth and tell it ever, costeth what it will; for he who hides the wrong he did, does the wrong thing still.” Of course this quote didn’t begin with my mother, but she is the first person who said it to me. Quotes, good quotes, are like that – you remember who said it, what the circumstances were, and that it had an immediate impact on your thinking.

I’ve compiled the quotes in this book with great care. I’ve included quotes that will help you on the work front, the home front, and the spiritual front. There are quotes to lift you up and quotes to bring you back to earth. Some will make you smile and some will create more questions than you might care to think about. All of them will make you think and that is an exercise in your present that will enhance and improve your future immensely.

It is my hope that you “get” the “ah-ha’s” I got when I first read or wrote the quotes I’ve selected for this inspirational book.

If you apply what you learn to your life, I can honestly say that I will See You at the Top!

One of my favorite quotes from Zig Ziglar is, “People often tell me motivation doesn’t last, and I tell them that bathing doesn’t either. That’s why I recommend it daily.” This quote sums up the reason for this book – we all need daily motivation to keep us going in the right direction. Beautifully designed with wonderful photos, this coffee table book has an inspirational thought for each day of the year. It is a collection of quotes from Zig himself, and many others that have motivated him over the years.

Learning to Dance in the Rain Gift Book

The title of this beautiful book was inspired by a great quote from Vivian Green…”Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass…it’s about learning how to dance in the rain!”
Learning to Dance in the Rain is beautifully designed, with great stories and great quotes. It makes a terrific gift for any occasion; it can take you from feeling down to feeling blessed, in less than 30 minutes!

Excerpt of “Learning to Dance in the Rain”

The date was July 16, 2008. It was late in the afternoon and I was sitting in my hotel room in Louisville, Kentucky. I was scheduled to speak that evening for the Kentucky Association of School Administrators (KASA).

I was a little “down in the dumps.” I hadn’t gotten to exercise lately because of my traveling schedule and recently I’d experienced some mild bouts of vertigo (that inner ear condition that can cause the room to start spinning.) You got it…speaking and “spinning” are not good partners!

My keynote presentation was scheduled for 7:00 PM, but I had been invited to show up at 6:00 to see a performance they said I’d enjoy. Little did I know that I was about to see something I would never forget.

They introduced the young musician. Welcome…Mr. Patrick Henry Hughes. He was rolled onto the stage in his wheelchair, and began to play the piano. His fingers danced across the keys as he made beautiful music.

He then began to sing as he played, and it was even more beautiful. For some reason, however, I knew that I was seeing something special. There was this aura about him that I really can’t explain and the smile…his smile was magic!

About ten minutes into Patrick’s performance, someone came on the stage and said…”I’d like to share a 7-minute video titled, The Patrick Henry Hughes story.” And the lights went dim.

Today, Patrick is a junior at the University of Louisville. His father attends classes with him and he’s made nearly all A’s, with the exception of 3 B’s He’s also a part of the 214 member marching band. You read it right…the marching band! He’s a blind, wheelchair-bound trumpet player; and he and his father do it together. They attend all the band practices and the half-time performance in front of thousands. His father rolls and rotates his son around the field to the cheers of Patrick’s fans. In order to attend Patrick’s classes and every band practice, his father works the graveyard shift at UPS. Patrick said…”My dad’s my hero.”

But even more than his unbelievable musical talent, it was Patrick’s “attitude of gratitude” that touched my soul. On stage, between songs, he would talk to the audience about his life and about how blessed he was. He said, “God made me blind and unable to walk. BIG DEAL! He gave me the ability…the musical gifts I have…the great opportunity to meet new people.”

When his performance was over, Patrick and his father were on the stage together. The crowd rose to their feet and cheered for over five minutes. It gave me giant goose bumps!

My life was ready to meet Patrick Henry Hughes. I needed a hero, and I found one for the ages. If I live to be a hundred, I’ll never forget that night, that smile, that music, but most importantly, that wonderful “attitude of gratitude.”

I returned to Chicago and shared Patrick’s story with my wife, my friends, and our team at Simple Truths. About two weeks later, I received a letter from a friend. He said, “Mac, here is a quote from Vivian Greene that I think you’ll love!”

“Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass…

it’s about learning how to dance in the rain!”

I thought…that’s it! We all face adversity in our life. However, it’s not the adversity, but how we react to it that will determine the joy and happiness in our life. During tough times, do we spend too much time feeling sorry for ourselves, or, can we, with gratitude…learn how to dance in the rain?

It almost sounds too simple to feel important, but one word…gratitude, can change your attitude, thus, your life, forever. Sarah Breathnach said it best…

“When we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present….we experience heaven on earth.”

Learning to Dance in the Rain Framed Print

Dancing in Rain, 5″x7″ Framed Inspiration in black wood frame.

High quality 5″x7″ wood frame with black lacquer finish and attractive felt back. Includes a convenient black gift box with gold cord.

“Life’s not about waiting for the storms to pass…It’s about learning to dance in the rain”

Get this framed print!

This print will bring help you to keep a positive outlook no matter what “the weather” brings. Know someone that needs a little encouragement? Makes a great gift paired with the gift book “Learning to Dance in the Rain.”

An Excerpt from

Courage Does Not Always Roar

by Bobi Seredich

Debra W. South Jones knows first-hand what it’s like to struggle, but she also knows how to turn a tough situation into a solution – one that allows thousands to go to bed at night with a full stomach.

A mother in her 30s who was fighting ovarian and thyroid cancer, Debra had to retire from her accounting job. That left her in a catch-22. After her first husband left her, she didn’t make enough money to feed her son and daughter, but was told she made too much to qualify for food stamps.

So she survived on disability checks and help from family and friends.

“I felt so humiliated,” she said.

She promised God that if she got better she would find a way to help people who were hungry and struggling. From that promise, and a few shelves of canned goods, grew a United Way agency, Just The Right Attitude (JTRA), that now doles out hope and 2.5 million pounds of food a year.

Established in 1999, JTRA quickly expanded its outreach, providing food for 850 families out of Debra’s converted one-car garage. But, because of a neighbor’s complaint, her operation was going to be shut down.

Debra turned to her community again for their support and a local car dealer, Troy Duhon, heard her call. He had seen a news report about her project’s grand opening, and offered Debra the top floor of one of his dealerships. By 2003, JTRA was serving 4,000 families a month. When Katrina struck two years later, demand doubled.

Before it became too late to leave, Debra evacuated to Atlanta. Later, she learned that everything she had left behind – her car, home, and personal belongings – were gone. Troy Duhon lost everything too.

But Debra was no stranger to struggle, so she set her mind to rebuilding her life and the food bank. For eighteen months, Debra lived at her mother’s in Breaux Bridge, over 200 miles from New Orleans. Each day began at 4:45 a.m., as she drove three-and-a-half hours one-way in a car that a friend gave her. For the first two months, she worked out of a gutted dealership. When Troy began rebuilding, she moved to the parking lot of a church across the street.

JTRA consisted of two big tents and four storage pods. One tent morphed into a drive-through food bank, serving 26,000 families a month, while the second tent housed a makeshift kitchen. Four small generators fueled rice cookers and electric skillets, while large pots of beans simmered on a two-burner propane stove. Sixteen thousand families received a hot breakfast and lunch every month. In cold weather, generator-run heaters warmed the volunteers while they worked. The operation was nothing fancy, but it became a lifeline for struggling families-one day, one meal, at a time.

While I was working in New Orleans this year, I met Debra and learned more about her food bank. More than three years after Katrina struck the Gulf Coast; Just The Right Attitude still serves 15,000 families every month. The food bank continues to be filled by Second Harvest and other donors, but demand still outstrips supply. JTRA regularly runs food drives to fill the gaps. And because of Debra’s promise to help anyone who asks, JTRA has received no governmental support of any kind.

Despite her cancers, a series of strokes and heart attacks, knee surgery and chronic back pain, Debra South Jones is full of energy and at work every day. Athletes learn to push through the pain for the duration of a race or a game, and so does Debra. She is an inspiration to many in her community – an unsung hero, who perseveres through every challenge. With an unstoppable “bring it on attitude,” Debra’s courageous actions have been the driving force in helping to feed thousands of people, a one-woman solution to attacking hunger in her corner of the world.

If you’re a woman and want to be inspired, get a copy of this book! If you have female friends you wish to inspire, this is truly a gift of love.

An excerpt from

Eat that Frog!

by Brian Tracy

The key to reaching high levels of performance and productivity is to develop the lifelong habit of tackling your major task first thing each morning. You must develop the routine of “eating your frog” before you do anything else and without taking too much time to think about it..

Take Action Immediately

In study after study of men and women who get paid more and promoted faster, the quality of “action orientation” stands out as the most observable and consistent behavior they demonstrate in everything they do. Successful, effective people are those who launch directly into their major tasks and then discipline themselves to work steadily and single-mindedly until those tasks are complete.

Develop the Habits of Success

Your success in life and work will be determined by the kinds of habits that you develop over time. The habit of setting priorities, overcoming procrastination, and getting on with your most important task is a mental and physical skill. As such, this habit is learnable through practice and repetition, over and over again, until it locks into your subconscious mind and becomes a permanent part of your behavior. Once it becomes a habit, it becomes both automatic and easy to do.

Whenever you complete a task of any size or importance, you feel a surge of energy, enthusiasm, and self-esteem. The more important the completed task, the happier, more confident, and more powerful you feel about yourself and your world.

The Three D’s of New Habit Formation

You need three key qualities to develop the habits of focus and concentration, which are all learnable. They are decision, discipline and determination.

First, make a decision to develop the habit of task completion. Second, discipline yourself to practice the principles you are about to learn over and over until they become automatic. And third, back everything you do with determination until the habit is locked in and becomes a permanent part of your personality.

Visualize Yourself as You Want to Be

There is a special way that you can accelerate your progress toward becoming the highly productive, effective, efficient person that you want to be. It consists of your thinking continually about the rewards and benefits of being an action-oriented, fast-moving and focused person. See yourself as the kind of person who gets important jobs done quickly and well on a consistent basis.

Your mental picture of yourself has a powerful effect on your behavior. Visualize yourself as the person you intend to be in the future. Your self-image, the way you see yourself on the inside, largely determines your performance on the outside. All improvements in your outer life begin with improvements on the inside, in your mental pictures.

You have a virtually unlimited ability to learn and develop new skills, habits, and abilities. When you train yourself, through repetition and practice, to overcome procrastination and get your most important tasks completed quickly, you will move yourself onto the fast track in your life and career and step on the accelerator.

In Eat That Frog!, Brian provides 21 practical steps to help you stop procrastinating and get your biggest priorities accomplished! So, don’t put it off until tomorrow.

Virtually every woman we know has the same problem – she knows what’s good for her, but she often doesn’t do it. She knows she should eat less and exercise more, but still she doesn’t make healthy choices. She knows she needs to spend her time and money more effectively, but good time and money management elude her. She finds herself always putting others first, while neglecting her own needs and wants. She doesn’t get enough rest or sleep and her endless to-do list hangs overhead like the sword of Damocles. As our friend Brenda Knight laments frequently, “Why am I always riding in the back of my own bus?”

We don’t do the things we know are good for us because we are so busy taking care of others that we neglect ourselves. The problem isn’t lack of information – we have plenty of information about the importance of sleep, healthy foods, and exercise. The problem is how we prioritize our lives.

Psychologists tell us that some people are inner-directed and some are other-directed. That is, some people focus on their own internal guidance system for making choices about how to spend their time and energy. Their own self-interest ranks very high on their list of priorities. “What’s best for me?” is a key guiding principle in determining where they focus their attention and how they make day-to-day decisions.

And some people are other-directed, which means that their primary focus is external, not internal. They are primarily concerned with relationships, especially people they care about. “How can I help others?” is a key question in how they spend their time and energy. Building and nurturing relationships with loved ones, family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers is the guiding principle in their lives.

Research indicates that, in general, men tend to be more inner-directed, while women tend to be more other-directed. There are exceptions, of course, but as a group, men are focused on themselves while women are focused on other people. Men like to build things while women like to build relationships.

This difference in psychological orientation goes a long way toward helping us understand why we women often do such a poor job of taking care of ourselves. We run around filling others’ lamps with oil, but forget to fill our own lamps first. Then we wonder why we’re often exhausted, frazzled, stressed-out, anxious and/or depressed!

Awareness is the first step toward solving a problem. So the first section of this book is devoted to helping us acknowledge the problem and understand the reasons for it. Chapter 1 looks at how girls are socialized, growing up to be women who put others first. Chapter 2 examines the values women have adopted in the past 50 years, beginning with the feminist movement – leading us to believe that we can have it all – all at once. And Chapter 3 explores the corresponding myth that we can DO it all.

But don’t be discouraged. Help is on the way – in Section II, we’ll get into solutions for the problem. We’ll learn the value of doing nothing, how to play again, how to become more inner-directed, and most important, how to ask for help.

You know, sometimes life just gets too serious…too busy…and too complicated. We don’t mean for it to happen, but we wake up one morning to discover the fun has slipped away.

A few years ago a health study determined there are 3 main reasons people can’t cope in life:

1. They live in the past.

2. They have a low self-esteem.

3. They can’t laugh at themselves.

In fact, the study indicated that we need approximately 12 laughs a day to stay healthy!

I heard a story not long ago about a guy who sent flowers to his friend who was opening a new restaurant. When he arrived at the grand opening, he looked for his flowers. Well, when he found them, he saw that he had sent a white wreath that said, “May you rest in peace.” He panicked, of course, and called the florist who said, “Bob, I’m not worried about you because as we speak, there’s a guy being buried who got a dozen roses that said, “Good luck in your new location!”

Ah yes…life throws us curve balls when we least expect it! And sometimes, just to stay sane, we need to sit back and laugh!

That’s what this little book is all about… making you laugh. It is filled with 250 humorous quotes on life paired with very funny photos. It’s 160 pages of pure unadulterated fun!

“Introduction”

The Richest Man in Town

by V.J. Smith

I’m so glad I found you.

My friend, Aaron “Marty” Martinson, wrote those words in a note to me. On the pages that follow, you will discover that he didn’t find me. I found him. And, thanks to Marty, I remembered a few things about life that I hadn’t really thought about for a long time.

For years I had grand visions of writing a book about a leader who changed the course of history. I filled my personal library with biographies of presidents and statesmen. I wanted to understand what made their lives great – and what might be missing from mine.

In looking for answers I turned to books written by people who are successful in business and industry. For a while I searched for excellence, then I compared my habits to those of highly effective people. Like millions of people, I thought success equaled happiness.

The book I’ve written, though, is about a simple man who ran a cash register. He worked hard and was good to people. That, in turn, made him happy.

Can it be so simple? so free of complications? Marty thought so. He showed me how to be a better person, not one wealthier or more successful or more powerful.

He changed my life – forever.

An excerpt from

Heart of a Teacher

by Paula Fox

He was in the first third grade class I taught at Saint Mary’s School in Morris, Minnesota. All 34 of my students were dear to me, but Mark Eklund was one in a million. Very neat in appearance, he had that happy-to-be-alive attitude that made even his occasional mischievousness delightful.

Mark talked incessantly. I had to remind him again and again that talking without permission was not acceptable. What impressed me so much, though, was his sincere response every time I had to correct him for misbehaving. “Thank you for correcting me, Sister!” I didn’t know what to make of it at first, but before long I became accustomed to hearing it many times a day.

One morning my patience was growing thin when Mark talked once too often, and then I made a novice teacher’s mistake. I looked at Mark and said, “If you say one more word, I am going to tape your mouth shut!” It wasn’t ten seconds later when Chuck blurted out, “Mark is talking again.” I hadn’t asked any of the students to help me watch Mark, but since I had stated the punishment in front of the class, I had to act on it. I remember the scene as if it had occurred this morning. I walked to my desk, very deliberately opened my drawer and took out a roll of masking tape. Without saying a word, I proceeded to Mark’s desk, tore off two pieces of tape and made a big X with them over his mouth. I then returned to the front of the room. As I glanced at Mark to see how he was doing, he winked at me. That did it! I started laughing. The class cheered as I walked back to Mark’s desk, removed the tape, and shrugged my shoulders. His first words were, “Thank you for correcting me, Sister.”

At the end of the year, I was asked to teach junior-high math. The years flew by, and before I knew it Mark was in my classroom again. He was more handsome than ever and just as polite. Since he had to listen carefully to my instruction in the “new math,” he did not talk as much in ninth grade as he had in third. One Friday, things just didn’t feel right. We had worked hard on a new concept all week, and I sensed that the students were frowning, frustrated with themselves and edgy with one another. I had to stop this crankiness before it got out of hand. So I asked them to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. Then I told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down. It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed me the papers. Charlie smiled. Mark said, “Thank you for teaching me, Sister. Have a good weekend.” That Saturday, I wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and I listed what everyone else had said about that individual.

On Monday I gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. “Really?” I heard whispered. “I never knew that meant anything to anyone! I didn’t know others liked me so much.” No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. I never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn’t matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another again.

That group of students moved on. Several years later, after I returned from vacation, my parents met me at the airport. As we were driving home, Mother asked me the usual questions about the trip, the weather, my experiences in general. There was a lull in the conversation. Mother gave Dad a sideways glance and simply said, “Dad?” My father cleared his throat as he usually did before something important. “The Eklunds called last night,” he began. “Really?” I said. “I haven’t heard from them in years. I wonder how Mark is.” Dad responded quietly. “Mark was killed in Vietnam,” he said. “The funeral is tomorrow, and his parents would like it if you could attend.” To this day I can still point to the exact spot on I-494 where Dad told me about Mark.

I had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. Mark looked so handsome, so mature. All I could think at that moment was, “Mark, I would give all the masking tape in the world if only you would talk to me.” The church was packed with Mark’s friends. Chuck’s sister sang “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Why did it have to rain on the day of the funeral? It was difficult enough at the graveside. The pastor said the usual prayers, and the bugler played taps. One by one those who loved Mark took a last walk by the coffin and sprinkled it with holy water. I was the last one to bless the coffin. As I stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to me. “Were you Mark’s math teacher?” he asked. I nodded as I continued to stare at the coffin. “Mark talked about you a lot,” he said.

After the funeral, most of Mark’s former classmates headed to Chuck’s farmhouse for lunch. Mark’s mother and father were there, obviously waiting for me. “We want to show you something,” his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket. “They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.” Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. I knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which I had listed all the good things each of Mark’s classmates had said about him. “Thank you so much for doing that,” Mark’s mother said. “As you can see, Mark treasured it.” Mark’s classmates started to gather around us. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, “I still have my list. I keep it in the top drawer of my desk at home.” Chuck’s wife said, “Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.” “I have mine too,” Marilyn said. “It’s in my diary.” Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. “I carry this with me at all times,” Vicki said without batting an eyelash. “I think we all saved our lists.” That’s when I finally sat down and cried. I cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.

The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don’t know when that one day will be. So please, tell the people you love and care for that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late.

Don’t forget to thank the teachers in your life for all of their hard work!

Paula Fox has written a beautiful book that captures the essence of the Heart of a Teacher. Paula has a degree in special education and 35 years experience teaching all ages from preschool through adult.

This beautiful book makes a wonderful holiday gift, or birthday gift, for anyone who has chosen to spend their life teaching. Order your copy of Heart of a Teacher today!

An excerpt from

212° Service

by Mac Anderson

It’s like the chicken or the egg question… Who comes first if you want to achieve business success – your customers or your employees? Herb Kelleher, one of the founders and former CEO of Southwest Airlines – an industry leader in customer service, sheds some light on the answer:

“I always felt that our people came first. Some of the business schools regarded that as a conundrum. They would say: Which comes first, your people, your customers, or your shareholders? And I would say, it’s not a conundrum. Your people come first, and if you treat them right, they’ll treat the customers right, and the customers will come back, and that’ll make the shareholders happy.”

So what’s the first step?

Hire the Best People…and Treat Them Right!

Howard Schultz, Starbucks’ founder, understood that the key to the success of his then fledgling coffee business was to recruit well-educated people who were eager to communicate their passion for coffee. This, he felt, would be his competitive advantage in an industry where turnover was 300 percent a year. To hire the best people, he also knew he must be willing to pay them more than the going wage and offer health benefits that weren’t available elsewhere. He saw that part-time people made up two-thirds of his employee base, and no one in the restaurant industry offered benefits to part-timers.

Schultz went to work in an effort to sell his board of directors on increasing expenses while most restaurant executives in the 1980s were looking for ways to cut costs. Initially Starbucks was still losing money. But Schultz was persistent. He was looking long term and was committed to growing the business with passionate people. He won, and he said many times afterward that this decision was one of the most important decisions, if not the most important, that he had made at Starbucks. His employee retention rate was about five times the industry average, but more importantly, he could attract people with great attitudes who made their customers feel welcome and at home.

When hiring someone, start with the premise that attitudes are contagious. Then ask yourself one question…Is theirs worth catching?

I’ve been in business for over 30 years and I’ve come to realize the difference in success and failure is not how you look, not how you dress, not how much you’re educated, but

HOW YOU THINK!

In my business life, I’ve watched many very intelligent people fail miserably because they have a negative attitude, and I’ve also observed just as many people with average intelligence soar to success because of positive attitudes.

Southwest Airlines’ VP of People is often asked the question, How do you get your people to be so nice? Her answer is always the same…

“WE HIRE NICE PEOPLE.”

It sounds almost too simple to be important, but “hiring nice people” has been the cornerstone of their amazing success in a highly competitive industry. They understand their competitors may be able to match their price and copy their business model; however, they feel that the spirit and the attitude of their employees will be extremely difficult to replicate.

Someone once said, “Life is like a game of tennis. The player who serves well seldom loses.” The same can be said for any business on the planet. There are many books written about service, however, our goals in this one is to keep it simple. 212º Service presents 10 simple, but engaging rules of service that can be read by every member of your team in less than 30 minutes.

You may know the 212 concept for our original bestseller 212º the extra degree written by Sam Parker and Mac Anderson. But this book is written specifically for businesses and is all about creating a service culture. In case you are not familiar with the 212º concept, here it is in a nutshell:

At 211º water is hot. At 212º, it boils. And with boiling water, comes steam. And steam can power a locomotive. The one extra degree makes the difference. This simple analogy reflects the ultimate definition of excellence. Because it’s the one extra degree of effort, in business and life, that can separate the good from the great.