There is That Quote Again !!!!

Well........As most of you know I do not promote motivation articles, seminars, movies, books, or whatever....but I recently received this article in my e-mail and promptly avoided it. A day later someone forwarded me a copy of the article and asked me to read it as it had "spoke" to them. I did read it then and have read it several times since then. Did it speak to me? No...I would say it shouted, thundered, clapped...well you get the idea. I spent 20 plus years in retail and I cannot tell you how many times I have had my clerks demeaned, ridiculed, and demoralized for being just that a clerk, trying to help someone else. this article is from a man named Jim Paluch of JP Horizons, Read and enjoy!!

Ralph Edge



There Is That Quote Again!

"Your life is a direct reflection of how you treat people."

If you have been to a JP Horizons event, you may remember that I always have a variety of quotes rotating up on the screen as people come into the room. I have been on the speaking trail quite a bit over the past couple of months and have had the chance to read those quotes many times. Or, maybe I should say, read one of those quotes quite a bit. It just seems like every time I look up at the screen while mingling around the room or preparing to get started, the slide that always catches my attention is the one that I quoted at the opening of this newsletter: "Your life is a direct reflection of how you treat people."

It has grabbed my attention so often lately that it's really caused me to do a little self-assessment and consider the question, "How am I treating people, and how would my life be different if I could make even a small improvement in this area?"

When we take the time to ask ourselves a sincere question, one that we really are open to the answer that may follow, we need to be prepared, because the answers will follow. Go ahead and read that last sentence again if you have the time because there are a couple of key points in it. If we ask a sincere question, the answers will come. The humbling thing about asking this question for me and the whole situation of being drawn to it is that the quote is out of my first book, Five Important Things. I made that quote up, and here I am, 15 years later, wondering how much progress I have made in this area. Well, the answers started to come. A little sketchy at first, but over a couple of days they seemed to come clearer and clearer, whether I wanted them or not . . . Hold on, you are going to get a little bit of self-disclosure from the road, yet I will also give reference to some things that I have gone back to read and consider. Things I have written in the past. I am thinking that if I wrote the quote that has started this whole reflective process, then maybe some of the other things I have written could bring about more insight.

- Jim Paluch


Doing Their Job

One of the interesting things about traveling so much is you get to meet a lot of people who are right in the middle of doing their jobs. Hardworking people such as Continental airline ticket agents and gate agents, rental car agents, cab drivers and shuttle bus drivers, hotel front desk clerks, banquet managers, audio/visual technicians, waitresses, business center workers, and a host of other people that I can come in contact with. I started asking myself the question, "How am I treating these individuals that are just trying to get by in what may not be the most rewarding positions at times?"

Well, I really did not like the answers that followed from that little constant voice running dialogue in my head. "Do you remember that a/v technician that you went nose to nose with just because you didn't like his prices? Or how about the ticket agent who just could not get you on the plane as a standby, no matter how gold or elite you felt your frequent flyer status was? She probably should have sat you in the corner for a timeout." Sometimes that inner dialogue can really let you have it if you are willing to let it speak. It could probably go on with more examples than I want to admit, but I will just let you in on one more just so you get the picture. ". . . how about that waitress, you know the one who started crying, in front of Beth and your sons several years ago, just because you had to give her a two-minute seminar on customer service, and conclude with, 'Now come on, get your head in the game.' And, oh yeah, how did you feel when her manager came out and asked you what you said to his waitress who is in the kitchen crying?" Now before I tarnish an image so badly that there may never be another person showing up for a seminar, let me just say, it does not happen frequently, but the question at this point is, "Is even once acceptable?" I don't think so, and I guess it is what I was thinking about when I wrote this little piece of "fiction" in Five Important Things and then forgot again many years later in the scene described above.



Doing Our Job

How about when you or I are right in the middle of doing our job? Is that an easy time to appreciate people? You know, when our customers are depending on our service or product. Sometimes we can be so focused on doing a good job that we lose focus on the privilege of having a job to do. I realize over the years that there were times that I could have been more responsive and more appreciative of being a resource, yet there have been times that I've fallen short. I could have been a little more responsive to my clients' needs and maybe just genuinely appreciative of them and their role in helping people as well



Choices and Follow Through

One last thought on this topic of how we treat people, and it goes back to the Five Important Things book as well. Important Thing Number 2 is "APPRECIATE PEOPLE" and it's at the core of treating people great. If we treat people great, and if we believe in the quote at the start of this newsletter . . . just think how tremendous our life will be! I was glad to read through them again and remember what inspired me to write these thoughts in the first place.

What a great wake-up call for me when I realized this quote "Your life is a direct reflection of how you treat people" was in my face almost every day over the past two months. Maybe the reason I kept seeing it on the screen was because I needed a good reminder and maybe I was supposed to write this newsletter so I could re-examine how I treat others. What if I was supposed to write it for you too, the reader? What if you are feeling right now like it was just for you? How will you treat people in the next hour or throughout this day? How will you and I treat others for the rest of the week, month or throughout this upcoming year? However we choose, we can count on seeing its reflection in our lives.

If you want to learn more about the power of PEOPLE SOLUTIONS THAT DRIVE BUSINESS PERFORMANCE, contact:

JP Horizons Inc.


8119 Auburn Road


Painesville, OH 44077


Phone: (440) 352-8211


Fax: (800) 715-8326


e-mail: jim@jphorizons.com


web site: http://www.jphorizons.com/

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Enjoy the Life and Thanks for Stopping by

Ralph Edge