All posts by Keith Thompson

Little dresses in the closet

Life

Last night I was upstairs in our home looking for something and when I opened the closet door in one of our granddaughter’s rooms, I was taken back. Hanging in the closet were dresses and onesies and outfits (that’s what girls them) that belong to our granddaughters. I looked around the bedroom and there were toys, coloring books, dolls and games and the rooms even smelled like my babies.

I paused and realized how very precious this time period in my life is. This period will speed past just like it did when these same rooms were my daughter’s room’s years ago. I was struck by the awareness of how fast time passes and how quickly children grow up, graduate, leave home and get married.

My personal advice is to take in the moments and recognize how precious they really are. Lock in those memories to keep for another day because there will be a day when they will outgrow the dresses, the room, the home and will go find their place in the world. As a parent you have only a few years to teach them and impress on them what is important in life.

As I walked back downstairs I prayed a silent pray that we taught them the real things that matter in life. KT

Say what you need to say

Life

John Mayer wrote a song entitled “Say.” The theme of the song is to say what you need to say. Some of the lyrics of the song are, you may feel like a one man army, have no fear and it’s better to say too much than never to say what you need to say.

This is not a Christian based song but it could very well be a good stand in.

There is a big difference between saying whatever comes to your mind without any filter and saying what you know in your heart you need to say. I am not talking about a loud mouth who just says whatever rolls into his thought process. I am talking about knowing in your heart you need to say something, but because of intimidation or fear, you don’t say to the other person what you know you should.

Maybe 2016 is your year of walking without fear and without intimidation and being bold enough to speak up. Ronald Reagan said “It is better to be respected than liked.”

Sometimes you just need to say it. Get it out in the open so you can get beyond its grip and start the process of settling the matter. KT

When it is time to stop talking and start doing

Career

There are people that cannot shift gears from talking about it, to doing it. In business you will find them in every boardroom, every assembly line, every staff meeting, every loading dock and standing at every water cooler in the break room. These are people that are the authority of how to do it but the problem is they never actually do it.

I had a friend some years ago that was so captivating when he spoke that if you were not careful, you would start believing him. There wasn’t a subject he was not proficient at discussing. He was one of the most well learned, and informed men I have ever known. The problem is he could not get out of his own way. He talked a great game from the bleachers but never got on the field. His self-esteem seemed to be wrapped up in the number of people who would gather around to listen to him talk. If he had a crowd of attentive listeners, he was in his element. I am sure you have seen these type people as well.

The person I most want to listen to is the one who actually got on the field, buttoned up the chin strap and participated in the game. It doesn’t matter if he or she succeeded. What matters is that they tried. I think there are many many people who live their entire life talking about what would have been but they never experienced it themselves. One of the greatest joys in life is when you tried your best at something and you are exhausted on the sidelines from the effort. It is much sweeter than standing on the sidelines having only talked about it.

I have told our sales people many times not to wait until they have all the answers and all the files straight. This type person usually will not get on the field. Behind the talk is really fear that they attempt to hind through conversation. I had a broker one time that didn’t even wait until he had a business card. He just started calling and seeing people and wouldn’t you know it, he turned out to be very successful in our line of work.

Fear of failure is a devastating life companion. The more you welcome it, the more of your life it inhabits. This Christmas, give yourself a gift that will inspire you. Think of the top 5 business related calls, meetings, or introductions that scare you most and then go do all 5. The worst thing that can happen is you get turned down which is exactly what you have now. What I predict will come out of this exercise is a renewed boldness, a renewed sense of self-worth and a renewed vision for 2016. KT

Christmas 100 years ago

Family, Life

Back in 1915 life was much simpler than now. It wasn’t better, it was just simpler. The following are a few facts of economic life in 1915

Average annual income $687.00 per year – same as $16,100 today

Average cost of a home $3,200 – same as $177,000 today

Average cost of a car $2,005 –same as $48,579 today

Cost of a gallon of gas $23 cents – same today as $5.50 a gallon

Loaf of bread 7 cents, dozen eggs 34 cents, quart of milk 9 cents.

Average pair of men’s shoes $3-$5-same as $70-$116 today (about right)

Average pair of women’s shoes $7-$10 – same today as $163-$233 (some things never change. Ha)

Other facts:

17 million people died in the First World War. It was the bloodiest conflict in human history.

Harry Houdini performed his straight jacket escape

First coast to coast phone call was made between Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson

Rocky Mountain National Park is established by Congress

United sates Coast Guard was formed

Babe Ruth hits his first home run

Hurricanes hits Galveston and New Orleans and kills 275 people

Cornell University wins the college football championship. Ha

Ford Motor Company sells its 1 millionth car

American was embattled in the Great War that cost the lives of millions of young men and women and to live financially in 1915 was much worse than today and in America. Also, racial hatred was everywhere.

So yes, it was simpler but yet much more difficult. When you hear people talk about the good ole times, well, we are in the good ole times right now. As I was writing this blog post I thought about 100 years from now when someone is writing about 2015 and how our time will be viewed against history.

The inescapable fact of life is that all we have, is today. We can waste it or make it. History will judge us all on how we lived, loved and what memories we left for our families. Make it count. KT

Four stages of business

Career

I was consulting with a company recently and I was reminded of the four stages of business that I have alluded to in previous blogs. These four stages define just about every business from Apple, IBM to the cupcake store across the street.

Stage 1 – The cutting edge – This is the stage that is raw, messy and impossible to fully organize. It’s the new business stage where you go get new clients. Stage 2 – the management stage. This is where you want to manage more than you want to sell. Stage 3 is the analytical stage. This is where you want to run an analysis on how you manage. Stage 4 is you file for bankruptcy.

I don’t care if it is Walgreens, Microsoft or the local restaurant, you have to spend as much time in the new business stage as you do in the other stages. Human nature will tell you it is easier to manage others or to analyze others because stage 1 is unruly, raw and messy and you can get your feelings hurt. Some people want to talk about doing it but then there are the few that want to actually go do it. As a company, when you find these few, they are the ones you want to build a company around.

As a leader, you must have some extra space in your schedule if you want to attract new business. If you personally are running at 120% of capacity every day and every week, there will come a day when you look around and ask, what happened to the business? KT