Brighton Dallas Success Rally

After three days of wonderful Brighton Success Rallies at 7:30 AM in Austin, San Antonio and Houston I was all set for the next one at 7:30 AM in Dallas.

When I arrived (at 7:25) the food was out…

The coffee was hot…

But the room was empty… I began to worry (just a little), until Preccia showed up “early” (at 7:45 AM) and informed me that the rally starts at 8:30 AM. Whew!

By 8:15 AM it was looking more like a Brighton function…

There was even someone wearing a Hawaiian purse, just for me.

By 8:3o AM Tamara, Preccia, Marsha and Margie were in full swing with a great contest naming the features of different Brighton bags.

When it was my turn I asked who was happy to be there on a Sunday morning and got a typical Brighton reaction as the morning went from “Good to Great”.
I even got a standing ovation at the end… Now that’s a first.
Mahalo Team Dallas.

Team Houston

I have been doing Brighton rallies every day this week deep in the heart of Texas. Unfortunately I don’t have as many photos as I would like.

Today’s rally was at the quaint Berry Hill Restaurant in Houston.

The only “challenge” was the construction next door with heavy equipment competing with me for sound.

Mark Henthorn solved the problem creatively by taking plates of food out to the crew. They came out of the field like feral cats coming to a bowl of cat food.

New and Beautiful

 While riding to my Brighton Collectibles Success Rally in Houston this morning, I looked up and saw this beautiful new BoConcept store.

I went to the door about 10 minutes before opening and by flashing my ponytail was allowed in. I asked, “Do you know who I am”, and the answer was, “You are the DRL Man”.

It was a lot of fun to give the staff a Morning Report tutorial. They look forward to seeing it every day, and were happy to hear that Carsten Pedersen looks at it religiously as well.

Help Wanted - I Guess So!!!

One thing I look forward to when traveling is the opportunity to get a shoe shine. This is a non-existent business in Hawaii.

The other night I saw a shoe shine stand in the San Antonio Airport and asked for a shine. The guy said, “Sorry, but I am about to close”. The airport was busy, but I decided to cut him some slack since it was after 8 PM.

Today I was back in the same San Antonio Airport at about noon and saw this sight!
#@!~

Three Generations; Two Countries Come Together 

 As I venture deep into the heart of Texas, and Gilbert into the great unknown, Masae’s mother, Yoshiko and sister Shizue are in Hawaii from Tokyo venturing deep into the heart of Samantha, Yoshiko’s great grand daughter. Samantha is slow to go to anyone she doesn’t know well, but she just can’t resist the temptation of a banana; (even when it comers from me).

While on Oahu Yoshiko and Shizue got to go to Surf-n-Sea and meet founder and business person deluxe, Joe Green. Hey Joe, what a great new web site you have there.

14 Hours Later

Just 14 hours after arriving at the Vancouver BC Airport we have arrived in Houston. Next is to catch a flight to San Antonio.

If all goes well I will get to my San Antonio hotel by mid-night. That will give me a chance to update the forum, respond to e-mail and maybe even get a little sleep to re-energize for two Success Rallies tomorrow.

Today’s experience is a good example of how people tend to blame a whole company when things go wrong and the people working there fail to handle it well. Continental Airlines was getting a lot of bad publicity today, yet there was no real fault there. We should be thankful that they catch and fix mechanical problems on the ground, not in the air.

All we needed was more empathy from the flight attendants and all would have been much better. We also saw how forgiving people can be; as we landed the passengers all applauded. I haven’t heard that in a long time.

I Am Not Smiling Anymore

Nobody knows more than I do that STUFF HAPPENS; it’s a chapter in my book. That being said, my patience and understanding have run out and I am finding myself in a rant.

After sitting on this airplane for close to three hours without a word being said, I look out the window and see the guy in this photo taking bags off of the plane. I casually asked one of the flight attendants what he is doing, and he said, “Oh, he is taking off bags for people that we have accommodated on another flight.” You can imagine how my “mood” changed.

After giving him a little “lecture” on communication and “Aloha”. He just gave me a blank stare; he couldn’t care less. I headed out to the lobby to get “accommodated on another flight”.  Well, after setting off a security alarm and being accosted by another unfriendly agent, I was told that there are no guarantees, and if I want to change to another flight to “wait in that line over there”.

I never have been very good at “line waiting”, but I went to the back of the line anyway and stood there with several angry people for a half an hour and the line didn’t move an inch. So, I came back on the plane and began writing this post. The first friendly employee that I have seen all day came over and said, “I think you left your glasses case in your seat when you left.” She was actually smiling, so I dumped on her about my felings; sorry!

She explained that they have another mechanic coming out to help and that he should be here in an hour. She also said that there is a good chance that this plane will get me into Texas before those other accommodations might, and without the hassle of changing planes, gates and even losing my 1st chosen seat, that I had to fight for upon checking in.

She was so pleasant, that I calmed down immediately and got back to work. A few minutes ago she came back and told me that she has an agent checking to see if there is any better way to get me to San Antonio any faster.

As in selling, it’s all about people, how they act, and what they say.

Stay Tuned! 

 Keep Smiling!

It isn’t always easy to keep smiling when things are not going as they should, but you should.
My patience is being put to the test right now as I sit on a Continental jet in Vancouver when we should be in the air flying to Houston.

Just last night I was talking to a group of managers about the importance of using check lists, and I mentioned airline pilots as an example. Just before take off this morning our pilot saw something wrong on his check list and returned to the gate for the mechanics to check it out.

Having got up at 4:30 AM to catch this flight, it was a bit annoying to say the least.

We were given the opportunity to stay on the plane or get off. Almost everyone got off. I see it as an opportunity to get some work done completely uninterrupted.

Stay Tuned!

Or, at least tone it down.

This guy sitting in the Seattle Airport let everyone 10 rows away know about the details of the bridge his company is building. When you add his comments to the loud speakers in the airport itself and the other cell phone users screaming their business, and airport lobbies are becoming the worst noise polluters there are.

What is it about people talking on their cell phones that cause them so talk short of the scream level? It is almost as if they think they are talking on a tin can through a string.

 C-O-L-D

A few other words that come to mind are, “dreary”, “nasty” and “miserable”.

I guess that “42 degrees and raining” is a bit worse to those of us used to Hawaii weather. When I stepped off of the plane last night without a jacket on, I got a fast and rude reminder of the phrase, “Lucky we live Hawaii”.

In a few short hours I will be in Vancouver, BC, and although I don’t anticipate it being much warmer, I will be in the warm company of Steen Skaaning and Team INspiration BC. They always warm my heart if not the temperature outside.