All The Small Things

This week, Jack hosted a small dinner to honor Karen W.’s 25th anniversary at DII. It was a very nice evening with a few stories from the archives of DII’s rich history. On many occasions, I have described our business history like an onion and at the center are a host of people who make DII a special place to work and an honor to lead. It is important to take time, now and again, to honor those at the core. In the trying times we face, a 40 year history is a rich account of success; a success that cannot be achieved without key people who make a difference at our core. This evening was about Karen and we reflected on the most special qualities that Karen embodies. After the dinner, we were saying our goodbyes and Sal captured the sentiment of the evening. He said, “It is nice to do something for Karen, because she does so much and asks for so little.” This got me to thinking.

What is it that makes Karen special? At dinner we asked Karen, how many pieces of mail have passed through your hands? How much money have you handled over 25 years? How many keys have been made? How many questions has Karen answered? The list of things, small things, goes on and on. How many things have been done to keep things going? How many small things were done in service to all of us? If you weighed each one, they might not amount to much. When you stack them up, you have a critical mass that tips the scale of significance.

All have a common theme, Karen works in service to all of us. She makes DII a better place for all, by doing countless, almost unnoticeable acts of kindness and service. On this week, we were celebrating her 25+ year journey, but it is also true that Karen is not alone.
I recently watched an interview of Marilyn Carlson Nelson, CEO of the Carlson Group (http://www.carlson.com/), owners of Radisson Hotels, TGI Fridays, Country Inn & Suites, and Regent Seven Seas Cruise Lines and employer of over 140,000 people worldwide. In the interview, she was asked about the death of her 19 year old daughter in a car accident, just after going off to college. The question posed was how do you go on? Her response inspired me. She lives each day, knowing that she has been granted a gift (a gift her daughter did not receive) and asks herself at the end of the day, can I sign my name to this a day?

Recently I wrote about roles versus jobs. We all have the same job and play a key role. Defining our roles is no simple task. One thing is certain, when we are acting in the service of others; we are performing a critical component of the role that will ensure a job well done. Our customers must be served, our co-workers must be served, our partners must be served, our producers must be served and our staff must be served. In doing so, I believe it is the small things that make a difference. The way we answer the phone matters, the way we greet another matters, how we spend our time matters – frankly all the small things matter. When we cheerfully do the small things, I believe we can sign our name in bold print. The canvas will frequently have Karen’s signature and so many other who make a difference – so to all of you, I say thank you.

Who is a Customer?

Last week, Jack, DiAnne, Heather and I attended the viewing of Nicholas Mangione, Sr. His passing was sudden and unexpected – they always are that way. The viewing was held at Ruck’s Funeral Home in Towson. He was survived by his wife, Mary, 8 children and 37 grandchildren. Mr. Mangione’s business enterprise has been a customer of Jack’s for over 30 years. Reflecting on the relationship we maintained with the Mangione Family for all of my 23+ years and many more with Jack, I came to a revelation. Our customers are a blessing, well beyond the business relationship.

I picked up Jack and we rode together to this event. The traffic to turn into Ruck’s was so bad that we parked down the street and walked several blocks to get into the funeral home. Once inside, the room for the viewing was so crowded that it was impossible for us to connect with his children and offer them our condolences. You see, Nick was a very successful businessman and the room was packed with family, friends, associates, vendors and clients. The busiest bar in Fells Point on a Friday Night had nothing on this room. The majority of our dealings with Mr. Mangione’s family businesses have been filtered through two of his daughters, Rosemary and Linda. We were able to connect with them in the packed room and as I think about the exchanges, I could see two daughters putting on a brave face and thanking us for coming. It had been a few years since they had seen Jack, so his attendance was especially meaningful. Underneath the stoic façade, I could see something else – the pain of losing a loved one. I could see in Rosemary, Nick’s oldest daughter, a pain that was so human that it haunted me since the evening.

I knew Mr. Mangione first as a customer and he was a very tough business man. Jack started the business relationship when he was able to outperform Mr. Mangione’s golf partner. In one memorable exchange, Jack was warned to never let anyone outperform his work. The gauntlet was set. Do right by me every year, and I will reward you with my business. Mess up just once and you are done. Not unlike many, if not all, of our customers. Business is business.
It was probably 15 years after I started at DII that I met Mr. Mangione personally. We were having dinner in the same restaurant and I felt compelled to introduce myself and let him know that I worked for Mr. Wurfl. He and Mary were so gracious that I was taken aback – where was the tough man how dropped the hammer on his ill-performing friend? Instead, he spoke glowingly of Jack and thanked me for all that we were doing to help his company. Some of this was polite platitudes and yet, there was much more; and I knew it. You see, Nick was a family man first. He had a very close family and involved his children in his businesses. They were close and he knew more than I expected. Mr. Mangione started with little more that his devoted and loving wife. He built a business and a family with equal skill. This family sticks together.
Now back to Rosemary. Linda Senez once said that Rose was the nicest, tough person she ever met. I began dealing with Rose after a few years and would echo Linda’s sentiment. Customers are demanding – they want and deserve our best. Rose once allowed me to reconsider the quote we provided because she was comparing it to a better option. In my career, I consider this a “get out-of-jail card.” At the time, I probably didn’t deserve the consideration, but Jack and Linda had earned Rose’s confidence. I would imagine she didn’t consult her father first, because he might have said we no longer deserved his business. Rose made a call and I learned a valuable lesson – take nothing for granted.

We have the privilege and honor to serve customers and it is easy to group them all together. “My customer is so demanding.” “They are always impatient.” “They don’t seem to appreciate all that I do for them.” All are regular comments made about customers.
It might be easy to classify Rosemary as a “customer”, but as I was watching her talk to Jack in the funeral home, I saw so much more. I saw the daughter of a man grieving his loss, thanking us for coming to pay tribute to her father. Thanking us, how ironic. I am thankful for her because I was once again reminded of the best part of our business. We have the privilege of connecting to a very small segment of our society – the American Family Businessperson. This person has spouses, children, grandchildren and many friends and associates. Let us never call their expectations demanding. We must understand what they want and need and provide this to them. It is only when we fail to perform our best that we jeopardize the business relationship. Trust me when I tell you this – even the most “demanding” appreciate our efforts.

That is what I call a customer.

Have I Earned the Right?

THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN'
Words and Music by Bob Dylan
1963, 1968 Warner Bros. Inc
Renewed 1991 Special Rider Music

“Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.”


I was walking across the parking lot the other morning at 9:05am, thinking as I always do about what people might be thinking if they were watching me from the lunch room. I am keenly aware that leaders are messaging with their every action, word, and habit. Credibility is nothing more than the alignment of your words and actions. Did they think I was coming from home? Or a meeting? Or from a leisurely breakfast? One of those was in fact true, but how could anyone tell? Then it hit me, it really didn’t matter, because after 23+ years, I have earned the right to come in on my own time. No one should be judging me. I have heard that before, others say that, so it must be true. I come in at this time because I think I have earned the right after all these years. I take a liberal lunch hour because I have earned the right to do so. It’s ok to shop online or extend my personal visits, because I have earned the right. This Saturday, it finally hit me – what is the difference between “earning the right” and “setting the standard.”

You see, rarely does anyone say, I have earned the right to come in early. Or earned the right to be at my desk, working at 8:45am. Or say, hey, I can’t talk right now because I am in the middle of a project. Walk with me through the office for a moment. Do you see people who start their working day at 9:30am (or later)? Do see people who spend significant time chatting about the issues of the day – well beyond a polite and brief interaction? Do you see people putting their things away early, so they can be out of the door at 4:45? I do, and I see so much more. Widen the lens of perspective and look with me.

Do you see General Motors ready to declare bankruptcy because they have over $2,000 per car in retiree costs and medical benefits that their non-unionized competitors do not? I see a license plate recently that says, “Universal Health Care is a Right.” I see people who believe it is their right to cut dangerously in front of my car to get ahead of me. Who is granting these rights, anyway? I was thinking they might have come from the Declaration of Independence where I was pretty sure certain rights were unalienable. So I pulled up a copy and here is what the document says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” So, I am not so sure that the creator endowed us with the right of universal healthcare or the right to cut me off. I do believe the benefactors of the GM Union contracts have a right to enjoy their negotiated benefits. One can only hope that GM does not manage their finances like our government, underfunding or borrowing against a future that they once thought was certain and now, who knows? And what about me saying that I have earned the right to come in late and there sure wasn’t anything that led me to believe that I could grant myself my own employment rights?

Let me say that the times, they are a changing.

I was not granted this right, in fact it is not a right at all. A right is defined as “a just claim or title, whether legal, prescriptive, or moral.” I have noticed that this claim is always coupled with an explanation of some deviation from an acceptable standard and is most commonly justified by some nebulous standard of longevity. Being late, is not a just claim. I was, in fact mentally defending my own mediocrity. And that is what I believe happens nearly, if not all, of the time. Saying essentially, I have been around here long enough that I no longer have to adhere to the standards of excellence that we ask others to conform. You work here 23 years like me and you too can grant yourself the right to come in late. That doesn’t sound so good when I put it like that, does it? Simply put, we need to revolutionize our thinking. There is a better way and we all should hold ourselves accountable to something far greater. That Creator mentioned in the Declaration of Independence would never have granted the potential for excellence if we weren’t expected to seek it.

How else will we ensure the future of our enterprise? I can hear it now; “I used to work for this great company. You could do whatever you wanted there, it was so much fun. They kept their people for a long time because everyone loved it. Come and go as you please, shoot, our President didn’t even come in until after 9:00am.” “And where are they now?’ “Oh, they went out of business, but what a great place to work.” As leaders, and yes we are all leaders; we must set a standard of excellence and expect everyone who joins us to live up to that standard. There can be no other way. We must develop a collective intolerance for mediocrity. Mediocrity is like cancer. It starts with one bad cell, then it spreads to neighboring cells, then it attacks your vital organs and finally it kills you. I have zero tolerance for mediocrity.

I believe that in life, there is only one person I can change and that is me. I also know that an organization will never exceed the abilities of its leaders. Starting today, I am holding myself to a new standard - fulfill my potential for excellence. I will no longer allow myself to justify my own mediocrity with my 23+ years of experience. This is what I feel I must do to make sure I am doing my job. (See Job vs. Role) I challenge you to do the same. When our leaders set a standard of excellence for themselves, three things will happen. First, we will raise the bar for everyone. Second, we will quickly see who is with us. Third, I make this commitment; I will try with all of the skill and energy that I possess to build this company so that we never have to leave an excellent employee behind.

It would be a shame if all of those rights we granted to ourselves wind up killing this company. Let us watch others die from the cancer of mediocrity while we enjoy the benefits of the pursuit of excellence.

Who's Job is it Anyway?

Who’s Job is it anyway?

Recently I was alerted to an issue of importance by one of our producers–the income from a particular company on a particular policy. I will spare the details because they are not relevant to the larger point. He was telling me that he asked for, and received a 100% increase in the commission level by simply asking. Can you imagine that? Double your income by simply asking – what a concept? What was also interesting to me was a comment that this request was a producers’ job and not the job of the office staff. That comment and perception troubled me for days. “Not my job.” How many times have we heard that as a response? Also how frustrated were you when you heard this as an answer to a question? I would imagine that the response was very frustrating and you were not happy to be on the receiving end. This response flies in the face of responsibility to a larger cause. Why would anyone feel like helping someone is not their job? Naturally, this thought got me thinking.
First, I was very disturbed that the comment could come from our company. We have too many dedicated and hard working people for me to believe that we have a pervasive issue with responsibility rejection. Second, I know we have rather loosely defined job descriptions, so I wonder how anyone even knows where their job begins and ends. Third, I refuse to believe we have people who don’t want to be helpful – to their team or to the company. How can anyone not care for the success of their company with all of the economic uncertainty that is pervasive today? This led me to conclude that we have yet another example of incomplete communication of a major theme. The consequence is we have created an unclear vision that apparently leads people to not know definitively the responsibility of their job and more importantly the impact at every level on our success. This writing is intended to clear up that error.
I plan to clearly define everyone’s job and draw a distinction between our job and our role. Let me first establish some fundamental truths. In a competitive marketplace, we are constantly under attack by our competitors in the marketplace. Competition seeks to take away what we have achieved. If you stay entrenched in a position, the competition will run you over and ultimately take away what you have. This is the very nature of a competitive marketplace. Competition is both fierce and relentless. If you think I am wrong –ask yourself what is happening to General Motors or AIG or Washington Mutual Savings Bank. Also, what got you here isn’t good enough to get you there. Why do you think they qualify investment alternatives with the statement “past performance is not a guarantee for future results?” Mutual Funds are nothing more than an investment in a collection of companies, just like DII. What this means is that we must constantly improve, do more, create more value. What we did 5 years ago is not going to cut it tomorrow. Every improvement is matched; every good idea is usurped. Think of your cell phone. Making a phone call is not even a feature that is interesting when buying a new phone. It is assumed that the phone will make a call. If it doesn’t text, connect to the internet, keep your schedule, download games and ringtones, keep your schedule, play video, etc. it isn’t worth the price we pay for the new phone. What does this have to do with our job?
Here is the fact, everyone has the same job. Simple, our job is to make sure we survive and thrive. If we do not survive and thrive, nothing else will matter. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. This will not happen unless everyone has the same goal. We have a collective responsibility to do whatever we can to thrive. By this definition, my job is very broad. It may mean looking beyond what I did in the past and see what I can do in the future to help. Maybe like the cell phone, I used to just make calls and tomorrow, I need to play video. Maybe if a call is transferred to my phone in error or in my case they meant to get Tom Bevans or Tom Singleton, I might try to help them rather than say, it’s not my job. This happens all of the time. My job is to make sure all of our clients receive excellent service. Breanna at the switchboard has the same job – isn’t that interesting. Geographically, she is in the front of the office and I am at the back and everyone in between has the same job. This might mean taking a misdirected call; it might also mean asking for the best offer a company can advance. It might mean asking if the commission we are receiving is the best available. The details are not as important as the concept. Whatever it takes to ensure our success is our job.
Now let me turn to our role. Here is where there is some distinction. Each of has a unique role. Breanna’s role and my role are completely different. Yet they are equally important. Joe Flacco can’t complete a pass unless 10 other players execute their roles. The offensive line is just as important to the play as the wide receiver. A failure of anyone in the execution of their role will ruin the outcome. To do our job, we all must have clarity of our roles and a commitment to the job. If you stay with my Raven’s analogy, you will also appreciate that our roles overlap and frequently switch places. The key block might come from a running back or Joe Flacco himself might catch the pass – like last week. Whatever it takes to score. One thing is for sure, before Raven’s take the field, everyone knows their role and everyone is committed to doing their job - help the team win.
No different for DII. Every day we are confronted with the relentless attack from the marketplace. Let’s understand that our job is the same.