Have you ever met someone who’s highly motivated, full of energy, and ready to take on the world, yet they never seem to get anything done? They’re passionate and have the greatest intentions, but for some reason they just can’t accomplish their goals. In the fighter pilot world, they are what we call “all thrust and no vector.”
“Been in the business 32 years. Push. Push. Push. It’s always been that way,” he said. “I don’t push,” I told him. “My people pull, and my business is thriving.”
At a recent industry event in Ohio, I heard how consistency changed the life of Weldon Long, former convict and now highly successful HVAC contractor and motivational speaker.
Not knowing what to expect, I stood at attention, braced myself, and saluted smartly. He quickly saluted back, looked me in the eyes, and reached over to shake my hand. “OK, Waldo, it’s a new day, new jet! Are you ready to pass this flight?"
I used to think that attitude had a lot to do with how one responds to the missiles of business and life. But the more time I spend in business, the more I’m convinced that the success or failure of a mission is determined by how we prepare for adversity.
Often we find ourselves so caught up in the day-to-day activities in which we are putting out fires that we are unable to step back and try to figure out how to prevent the fires in the first place. There is one method that I have found that can really help to make you take the time to look at why there are fires and emergencies in your organization.
Striking the balance between the need to hire qualified employees and the need to avoid disability discrimination claims has become even more challenging since changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) went into effect in 2009.
We, as contractors, have to walk a very fine line when it comes to deciding what issues/opportunities we go after. The reason for this is that we have a responsibility to our customers to make them aware of upcoming issues in order that they, the customers, may make informed decisions regarding the issues confronting them.
