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Volume 5, Issue 4, April 2006
TURNING LEMONS INTO LEMONADE On Friday April the 7th I had to do an after lunch keynote in Niagara Falls at 1 PM and then tape a TV show with the mayor of St. Catharines at 3 PM. The day started out pretty good, except for the fact that it was raining pretty steadily. I arrived at the office at my usual 8 am (quiet time to do some emails and writing), grabbed a coffee and began some work. The plan was to arrive in As I was plugging along with plenty of time to spare (proactive), all of a sudden my car decided to stop and not go any further. I was located at a four way stop in the middle of the country. Those of you who have attended my seminars know that I actually call this a 2% incident. There I was at a stop sign, in the rain, at 11:30, ten minutes by car away from the venue and my car will not start. Many people would have lost it by now. You know, pounding the steering wheel, yelling at the car and panicking as we visualize being late for the appointment. Well thank goodness for my Model and cell phones. I immediately called Brodi at the office and arranged for her to pick me up in her car. I then called CAA to arrange for my car to be taken in to see what was amiss; all the time remaining calm. You see, having totally internalized the Mouradian Model for Cooperative Action© I know that all will work out the way it was meant to be and that if I let go and do what I needed to do to reach my goal, all would be fine. As an aside, I have to say that I was really pleased at how many people stopped to see if I was OK. That was something that I did not expect. I would say a good 80% of the cars that passed in both directions took a moment to see if they could lend a hand. To all of those who did stop, my heart felt thanks. So, Brodi and the CAA tow truck showed up at about the same time. After getting my car hooked up and doing the paperwork, Brodi and I went in one direction as my car went in another. Here is where I turned lemons into lemonade. We arrived at the venue in plenty of time to grab a bite to eat and meet the conference organizers. I did my speech and from the reaction of the audience could see that it was well received. I had to separate the two incidents as the audience did not need to hear me complain about being stuck in the rain, all they wanted was a great performance and that is just what they received. After the speech, Brodi pointed out that we had some time before the TV show and asked if we could stop into her favorite bargain clothing store, It was now time to tape the TV show with the mayor. I thought why have Brodi hang around so I asked the mayor if he could give me a ride home and he agreed. He then mentioned that he was going to see his grandson play hockey after the taping and asked if I wanted to come along. I agreed and we went to the new arena complex and watched the last period of the game. It was great as I had the opportunity to see the new complex and how well it was doing. There were people everywhere; it was great to see a city facility so well used. So let’s review the day. Because my car broke down I was able to spend some quality time with Brodi (my youngest daughter) and I would not have been able to get such a fantastic deal on a sports jacket. Finally I ended up having a great time with the mayor and I was able to see how one of our great city facilities was being used by the citizens of The lesson here is that if you have the right attitude, no matter what happens to you, you can turn a bad incident (lemons) into a great day (lemonade) by not letting a 2% incident spoil your journey. It all works out in the end. Take care… Ted
SIDEBAR
By Pierre R. Ouellette Hon.B.A., LL.B.
Some months ago I solicited some advice from the readers of The Caravan with regards to one of my daughter’s friends. I thought that I should provide a brief update. KC is in her early twenties and is working at a call centre. She is in customer service and is good at her job. Still, she was looking to expand her options and asked me for help. And I asked you! I received a wide range of interesting suggestions and comments for my call for assistance. The most passionate advice was to tell her to stop drifting and to act now! It seems too many of us have let time slip by and not seized the day. In the end with KC it finally came down to that old classic of solutions – setting effective goals! So after having her take a battery of aptitude tests we settled on a list of career possibilities. We did not distinguish between the possible and the unlikely! I then arranged for her to meet with some people who already worked in the fields that appealed to her. Here again everyone was more than generous with their time. I am pleased to announce that, in the end, KC decided that she wanted to become a paramedic. I am equally pleased to report that she is already enrolled for September classes and could not be happier. Thanks to everyone who offered some input. It was very much appreciated and I can assure you that it made a real difference in a young person’s life! FEEDBACK
Dear Ted...I just wanted to say bravo!...that was an excellent article about the "Roll up the Rim"...you summed it up very nicely...Take care... Catering Manager Holiday Inn, St. Catharines I really enjoyed the latest e-newsletter. Actually, I enjoy most of them but this time, was moved to express my appreciation.
I thought your analysis of the "Tim Horton’s cup" affair was bang-on. I also appreciated Pierre's legal take on the wrongful dismissal/wrongful hiring.
Keep up the good work!
Gilles Thank You Mary Jane and Gilles for your Comments… To find out how we can help you or your organization please browse our website: www.CooperativeAction.com or contact us at 905-682-7380/1-877-393-3433. |
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