just parker

own it

A job is only a lesser job when the person doing it treats it as such.

I saw Smokey Robinson this past Saturday night at the Richmond Forum. He didn't sing -- it was more of a formal interview about his work over the last 50 years. About an hour and half that flew by with stories from his days growing up in Detroit with people like Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross and all the big Motown groups (they were all neighbors -- you believe that?).

One of his primary messages seemed to be the importance of grace and humility... that one should never feel they're more important than someone else because of their job.

"If an entertainer goes away it has much less of an impact than if a garbage man goes away."

Not his exact words but that was the gist. This was from a guy who produced.

At one point he talked about the "new" singer.

"The thing about a new singer is that they're never new. If they're 15-years-old, they've been singing since they were 5. If they're 20, they've been singing since they were 10." (again, not his exact words, but the gist)

Yesterday I saw this on Twitter from Jackie Danicki...

"some of the happiest people I know are in jobs that some of the most miserable people I know would consider beneath them"

So... how do I wrap this up?

tgim

(a little more from a couple years ago)

smoving steel

Smovish piece by Bill Taylor on "delivering a bit of humanity that rises above the day-to-day routine" (on the Harvard Business blogs).

He wrote it after finding "Steeling their courage" in today's Boston Globe -- a story of how a group of ironworkers are brightening the days of some young cancer patients.

Has me wondering what hidden opportunities are in my work.

Kindness spreads.

(smovish: ('smoo - vish) - adjective: 1. having qualities that illustrate a Smile & Move character or demeanor)

oh my goodness

Love the E*TRADE babies.

Watch them. Talk about them. Blog about them.

(but I haven't opened an account with them)

Great entertainment. Keeps the name in everyone's face. Both good things. But I always wonder if all that energy (time & money) pays in the end (or couldn't be better allocated).

The truth is, I guess, it's like anything. Big awareness can eventually trickle down to a smaller active group of paying customers. I might not be a buyer but on my dime I'm putting the message in front of people.

So many great spots but these "outtakes" below kill me (especially the laughfest beginning at 0.22 and the "oh my goodness" clip at 0.55)...

(thanks Frank & Laurie)

invention

From my 11-year-old... The world's first tieable sock...

 

"I'm not sure there's a benefit to it, Samo."

"I know. But it's cool."

Alright then.

inverse action

What if we participated in reverse customer service? If we, as customers, tried to be kinder to the people serving us?

The thought has me tripping over my keyboard.

I mean, why should I be the one to work to be kinder to that person at the ticket counter (or at that gate in the airport) when s/he always treats people the way s/he does, week after week. Why should I be the one who has to be kind when I'm the customer this time?

Because...

This whole thing is not supposed to be a battle.

Several months ago, I posted about the idea of businesses being more approachable and opening a little earlier and closing a little later. Someone who runs a retail business commented...

"I certainly take care of my customers but I have found that the public is quite rude and lacks much compassion for retail businesses."

We do, don't we?

But what it really is, I think, is that the public lacks much compassion for itself. Those people serving me have an obligation to do it well but I could certainly be more helpful to their efforts -- perhaps starting the exchange with the smile I wish they'd have for me (or asking my questions humbly rather than grumbly -- something about the phonetics of "umbly" that makes me want rhyme).

All of us are on both sides of the customer service experience every day.

Maybe if we were a little more compassionate, if we looked inside ourselves to help improve the experience (rather than outside), we'd more often find what it is we wish we'd experience.

tgim

happy 2/12

Is there someone/something you can give a little extra effort to today?

(cake courtesy of The Spaniard)

validation

A great little kick off to the week -- 15 minutes on the value of being encouraging, the value of a smile, resilience, and the influence we can have on others (even when we don't realize it)...

A little longer than it needs to be, I think, but good time even so.

tgim

("When bad things happen, good people have to take what they've learned and make the world a better place..." -- Kurt Kuenne, Writer & Director of Validation and Dear Zachary -- a completely different film)

gates

A couple years ago I heard Jared Diamond talk about how societies can collapse on themselves by being self-centered. The Spaniard and I left talking about how perhaps our lives in our community were similar in a small way – inside a bubble – a bubble that takes care of itself without real care for the outside world – a kind-of gated community.

A couple weeks ago I heard a wonderful sermon at my church on relationships and yesterday, I listened to it again while running.

So many wonderful points but this thought from C.S. Lewis jumped out…

“To love at all is to be vulnerable.

Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give it to no one, not even an animal.

Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries, avoid all entanglements, lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket -- safe, dark, motionless, airless -- it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.”

For whatever reason, that talk and the Lewis thought had me flashing back to Diamond’s thoughts on societies.

Gated communities and gated hearts... both seem scary to me.

(For the sermon: Use this link or get it on iTunes using this link, then choose 3: Unresolved Conflict – Corey. Email me if you have questions and I’ll help you out. Two other favorites of mine by Corey – 55: The Subversive Power of Grace - Corey and 76: All in a Day’s Work – Corey. Great stuff.)