Rodney Koop
Contributing Writer
The New Flat Rate

The Secret Service was assigned to guard the entrance to a very nice room at one of the big convention hotels in Washington D.C. My friend and I wanted to get into that room. But first we had to find it.

You see, my wife and I were visiting some friends that were well connected in politics; she was a political activist (which means she worked to get people elected). Her husband was a detective for the Department of the Treasury (so he was like a super FBI agent). I should also mention that because he was a government agent he would have nothing to do with helping us get into that room.

After a short search of the premises we located the room. It was set up as a speakers’ lounge and sure enough there was the big burly Secret Service officer with his earpiece and suit sleeve microphone. Right away we began looking for a way past the Secret Service. Now inside of this lounge were the political movers and shakers that were to appear on the stage in the next couple of hours. The door was only opened and closed by the Secret Service officer and only to those “on the list”.

My friend’s wife “Chrissy” is a go-getter if there ever was one, and she assured me that we could get inside of the speakers’ lounge. Chrissy had an idea. She noticed that from time to time these big name politicians came out and made the short trip to the men’s restroom, we surmised there must not be a bathroom in the speakers’ lounge. Hence, we then moved our “milling around operation” over to the men’s restroom lobby, and waited. In just a few minutes she recognized the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ International, a man by the name of Billy Bright. Neither of us had ever met Mr. Bright but that didn’t matter to Chrissy. He had come from the speakers’ lounge and headed for the men’s room. “Stay close to me” Chrissy told me. Sure enough in a few minutes.

Mr. Bright emerged from the men’s room and headed back to the speakers’ lounge. I should take a moment to point out that Chrissy was and still is a very striking and pretty woman, so when Mr. Bright emerged from the men’s room Chrissy immediately moved to his side and put her arm through his and said, “Billy, I am so happy to see you. How have you been?” Mr. Bright was a little taken back but seeing her pleasant expression, he began to converse with her as she kept him walking right toward the speakers’ lounge. I walked right behind her. At the entrance to the speakers’ lounge the Secret Service agent put out his hand and said, “Hold it right there.” Mr. Bright looked at the agent and said, “She’s with me.” I looked at the agent and said, “I’m with her!” We were ushered into the speakers lounge and the first man who put out his hand to greet me was Steve Forbes, Editor of Forbes Magazine and a candidate for President of the United States of America.

Chrissy taught me the power of action and I’ve never forgotten it.

Steve Forbes was not only a Superstar in the publishing arena, he was a good political candidate, though not necessarily a great one, and surely not a Superstar candidate because he failed to get elected. Now here is my point, Steve Forbes is actually a twice-failed presidential candidate but he is a Superstar publisher. I admire him greatly for not only becoming a presidential candidate but actually being considered a favorite at one point. Just because he tried his hand at stand up politics doesn’t mean he lost any of his abilities as a publisher. On the contrary, he continues as Editor-in-Chief of the magazine founded by his father, Malcolm Forbes.

Speaking of “Superstars” it seems that the in-home service industries like Heating and Air Conditioning, Plumbing and Electrical are quite obsessed with finding and keeping Superstar technicians and salespeople. Generally, our staff is usually made up of men and women that are really good at something. The problems come when we try to get them to be something they are not!

Steve Forbes might have made a good President, but we’ll probably never know. Your employees could possibly be good or great at something else, and they should be admired when they are willing to try. However don’t be afraid to let them go back to what they are good at if the other goals don’t work out.

There have been many very good service men and women who were promoted to service manager but couldn’t cut it as a manager. What they need is a way to go back to what they were good at.

I’ll give you an example; my brother had a great job in finance for a very large automobile dealership. He made more than the rest of the family, with very little risk. He was promoted through the ranks and became head of finance and was extremely successful at managing the entire financing and leasing departments for that company.

As a contractor, I have to admit that I often envied his nice secure paycheck, which was much more than mine. One day he called me and said that it looked like the General Manager was getting fired and he was going to try to get that job. My advice was absolutely not to take the job, even if they come and offer it to him. You see, here is what I have learned about the car business. A General Manager is a one shot job; there is no going back. If you fail, or if the owner decides to hire his buddy as GM, you are out the door. It seems that you will never be offered a chance to go back “down” to your former position. For some reason, it’s up, up, up, and then out the door.
I told my brother that he would lose that job sooner or later and be out in the street. But like all men with the same last name as me, we are a stubborn and egotistical bunch. We believe in ourselves and we absolutely love risk! Sure enough, he did a great job, then the economy slowed and he was sent packing. The finance department, on the other hand, all still have their jobs and get a paycheck every week. But Dave had to build a new career.

In our last issue I recommended that you find your greatest assets in way of your talent and passion, then find a way to use those on your job. Many service men and women have found that passion in our industry. They love to serve people, they love to fix things, and they love to be good at finding a solution for a problem. Don’t push them to be managers or even salesmen just because they are good at what they do…find a way to help them be good at what they love!

 Find a way for you and the rest of the team to be good at what you and they really love to do!