Jim Garland's Blog

Here is an example of the company culture that has been created at Sharp Details, Inc. cover the past ten years.  These are the 8 things that guide our thoughts and action as a company every day.  Please notice that the first thing on the list is attitude.  We hire people that enjoy a challenge, like to learn, want to grow, and that we want to be with every day.

The ASAP Philosophy

• Attitude
• Safety
• Appearance
• Performance

The Referability Habits

• Show up on time
• Do what you say you will do
• Finish what you start
• Say please and thank you

Two great books on culture are Delivering Happiness and Good to Great.  Have a great week

Do you have A World of Advocates that are constantly referring you, your business, or your book?

I recently asked my management team at Sharp Details who our customer was.  As we went around the table the typical answers came out.  The people we do work for, my clients, whoever we clean planes for, etc, etc.  When I got to our Vice President, he said what I was looking for, “Our customer is anyone we talk to or come in contact with every day.” that was it.  At Sharp Details our customer everyone, it is our client, our employees, our vendors, the attendant at the gas station, the lady you we hold the door for, or the person we waive in, when stuck in traffic.

I went on to explain to our management team that our number one priority over the next twelve months was to create “A World of Advocates”.  Literally hundreds and thousands of people who want to refer Sharp Details and our services every day.  Begin creating our world of advocates for you and your business today.

Setting big goals is a great way to get you excited and get you moving in a whole new direction in life.  A friend of mine recently approached me at a party and mentioned that she had recently read The Practical Guide to Exceptional Living.  I was a little nervous because I was not sure if she would agree with some of the ideas I discuss in the book.  She surprised me by saying the following, some of you may relate to this, “My whole life I have never challenged myself to set a big goal.  I have always set really small goals, that way I knew I would not fail, I now realize I have been selling myself short my entire life.  I have just turned 50 and I have set a very big goal for the next 12 months, I am scared but I am also very excited.  Check back with me in a year and I will let you know how I have done.”  Wow, I could not believe what I was hearing.

She would not reveal the goal to me as much as I begged.  I am excited for her and wish her success in her pursuit of her big goal.  Think of one thing you have always wanted to accomplish and challenge yourself to go for it.  Whether it getting in better shape, losing weight, improving a relationship, earning more money, or travelling to a dream destination.  Write it down and start pursuing it today.

Send me an email at jim@garlandcommunication.com and I will send you a goal writing worksheet.  You can also purchase The Practical Guide workbook at www.thepracticalbook.com

1. The Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris – This is one of the best books I have ever read.  It gets your mind thinking about your life in a whole different way.  Tim breaks all of the traditional work rules and has created an awesome life for himself.  www.fourhourworkweek.com
2. The Practical Guide to Exceptional Living by Jim Garland – Sorry for the shameless self promotion but the feedback I have gotten has been awesome.  People love the concepts in the book and it has caused many people who have read it to set a big goal in their life for the first time ever!  www.thepracticalbook.com
3. The Blue Zones by Dan Buettner – Dan goes to the five places in the world where the highest concentration of people live to be 100.  He chronicles their habits, lifestyle and environment to teach you how to better your odds for a long-life.  www.bluezones.com
4. Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh – Tony is the CEO of online shoe company Zappos.  He guides you through the transformation of his company and how big a role culture has played in creating their $billion brand.  Www.deliveringhappinessbook.com
5. Linchpin by Seth Godin – In this book Seth describes how to make yourself indispensable to your company and your customers.  A great book for any employee or CEO.  www.sethgodin.com

1. Decrease your overall intake of food.  Calorie restriction is one of the best ways to improve your overall health.  Eat 5-6 small meals a day instead of 2-3 big meals.
2. Exercise.  Getting 30-60 minutes of exercise every day will improve your health, provide you with more energy and add years to your life.  If you cannot get to the gym, go for a walk, jump rope and do push ups.
3. Drink some vinegar.  A tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in 4oz of water daily will help reduce your cholesterol and acts as a cleanse to your whole system.
4. Go meatless.  Try to have 2-3 days per week when you do not consume any meat.
5. Relax outdoors.  Find a way to get 10-15 minutes during the day outside without the interruption of your cell phone and email.  Just sit and observe your surroundings and let yourself slow down.

Go to www.bragg.com for more info on the benefits of apple cider vinegar in your diet

1. Determine and set one big goal not related to work. (set a goal for more time with family, a big trip, a new adventure or a health goal)
2. Control technology:  check email at certain times of the day (2 to 3 times), turn off all of your distracting beeps, buzzes and alerts, put your phone away for the first hour you are home each night.
3. Make the choice that family comes first.  With modern technology we can work whenever and wherever we want but a dance recital or ball game happens at a certain time and then it is gone.
4. Don’t try for perfection, shoot for excellence and be patient with yourself.
5. Work out daily and eat a healthy diet.
6. Learn to say no.
7. De-clutter your car, home and office and purge things you do not need or use.  Stop buying stuff.
8. Don’t waste time at your office or during the work day (chatting with friends, surfing the net, constantly checking email), if you simply focus on the most important projects that produce the biggest results, you could probably reduce your work day by several hours per day and make more money.
9. Have fun at work and at home.  If work is fun then it is not like work.  If it is a grind, quit and do something else.
10. Leave home problems at home and leave work problems at work.  This will allow you to focus on what is in front of you at that moment.

I hope this is helpful and have a great week!!!  To learn more go to www.thepracticalbook.com

Are you leading people or are you simply managing them?  Here is the difference and it can have a profound impact on your company or organization.  Although management and leadership are sometimes looked at as the same thing, they can actually produce quite different results.

Management

• You tell others what to do within boundaries that are set by you or the company and then you measure the results.  As long as things do not change very much you can just continue to do the same things over and over, producing the same result.  This can be effective and can help a company grow and prosper.  However as the manager/owner you always have to be there overseeing the store and it does not allow your employees to grow and develop.

Leadership

• You explain the result you want to produce and you give some guidance but you allow your team to figure out the best way to produce the result.  You allow them to make a few mistakes and learn from them, you encourage them to come up with the answers before you tell them how to fix something.  You measure the result, let the team make adjustments and continually improve the process.  This allows the team to adapt to the changing business environment and the company to expand more rapidly.  This keeps people excited because the are continually being asked and encouraged to take risks and grow.  Most importantly it allows the manager/owner to free themselves up to continually look for ways to grow the company and mine for new opportunities.

Take a look at how you are currently running your business and your team.  Are you leading, or simply managing?

Here is a great book that touches on these subjects in depth: “Good to Great”  by Jim Collins

I recently got together with a neighbor (a much better dresser than I) and we pooled all of our old suits, dress shoes, shirts, slacks and blazer that we did not use but were still in wearable shape and we donated them to Year Up in Arlington VA.  I donated books and a speaking engagement to Year Up students earlier this year.  See it here http://www.youtube.com/user/Jimgarlandbook

This great organization helps urban youth transition from high school to college or the work place.

Please make donations to Kristy Arnold at the address below.  It feels good to give!

Kristy Arnold, PhD
Student Services Specialist
1560 Wilson Blvd., Suite 350
Arlington, VA 22209
703-312-9327 ext.1202
http://www.yearup.org
http://www.youtube.com/yearupinc

This is from my good friend Gene Condreras who owns Panorama Flight Service at Westchester County Airport – HPN.

www.panoramaflightservice.com

1) Opportunities present themselves to us everyday, it is up to us to:

a) Recognize that the opportunity exists

b) Take action.

2) You can learn something from everybody that you meet, sometimes it may not be necessarily a good trait in the person but a valuable lesson to be learned may still be at hand.  Life is a University and everyone you meet is a Professor.

3) Always keep an open mind, there is always another way of doing things and sometimes it may be a better way.

4) The most important thing in any relationship, personal or professional is to be a good listener.   Listen and hear what is truly important to that other person or business and then do your best to focus upon providing whatever that is to the best of your ability!

5) Treat anyone and everyone equally and in the same manner that you would like to be treated yourself.

6) Utilize all the assets that are available to you.  Some assets may not be readily recognizable to you at first, so always make sure that you think things through and that you are aware of all the assets that are or may be available for your use.

7) No matter what it is you are doing, always do it to the best of your ability. Everything you do and the manner in which you do it becomes a self-portrait of yourself.

And from author unknown –

“Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.”

One of the goals of my blog is to recommend great companies that can save you time and make your life easier.  The Virginia Florist is one of these companies.  Although this company is located in Alexandria, VA they can help you out wherever you are located and whenever the need for flowers presents itself.

Mothers Day, Valentines Day, Weddings, Funerals, corporate events, flowers to your wife for no reason at all, the list goes on.  The thing I like most about these guys is they make it so easy.

Check them out at www.thevirginiaflorist.com or call them at 800-982-5689

Call them, set up an account, they will keep your credit card on file and whenever you need flowers a simple 1 minute phone call does it all.