All posts by Keith Thompson

Service over status – character over comfort – we over me

Career, Life

If you have ever wondered how to be the best version of yourself, I would suggest the following. Look for opportunities for service over status, choose character over your own comfort and make the word we, more important than the word me.

Service over status – Whatever your job or task is, take the attitude and willingness to serve, not lead. If you take this mental mindset, you will have the respect of the people around you. Lean more into the roll of the job versus your title for the job. When a person is always looking for a better status/ title, it is generally a career killer. People want to promote people who care more about the job than a new and bigger title. Throughout my life I have held many titles, but the two most dear to my heart are, husband and daddy. All the fancy titles in the world pale in comparison.

Years ago, when I was in the restaurant business, we were having some new coffee equipment installed by Standard Coffee. I got to talking with the equipment installer and about life and work. The equipment installer had the same last name as the chairman of Standard Coffee so I asked him about it. He told me he was his son. I asked him why he was installing equipment instead of other executive roles in the company. What he said, left an impression on me to this day. He said, “If I want people within the company to respect me, I need them to know I was willing to start at the bottom.” What a leadership attitude.

Character over comfort – There is a saying that is so very true. Whatever you compromise to keep you will eventually lose. You just cannot compromise integrity and expect it to not have an effect on you. When you do compromise your ethics, it peals a piece of your soul off with it. Its impossible to remain the same person after you compromised yourself for some short-term gain. If you are asked to do something unethical, and you refuse, you may lose the temporary gain but those people around you will respect you and in my humble opinion, you will come out better over time.

We over me – So much in the world today is about me. It turns my stomach to see all the self-centered, posts, blogs, news feeds, articles about people that only care about themselves. The best advice anyone can give is when you are asked “how did you do it?” is to say, “it was team effort, and we did it together.” That answer makes you look real, honest, approachable, and transparent. If you personally take all the credit, it just makes you look small.

So, look for opportunities for service over status, choose character over comfort and make the word we, more important than the word me. KT

Protecting the original

Life

Years ago, I bought a new Chevy Tahoe and removed the original factory floor mats and put some cheap rubber ones in their place. I put the factory floor mats on a shelve to save them and keep them like new. I had that Tahoe for about eight years and after about year three, I looked at those cheap rubber floor mats and ask myself, “why am I saving the factory floor mats for the next owner?” I decided that if anyone was going to ruin the nice factory floor mats it should be me. I threw those rubber ones in the trash and put in those original mats and drove the Tahoe like that for the next five years.

Do you remember those plastic covers some people put on their couch and chair to protect it? I was over at a friend’s house and his mother had those squeaky cold plastic covers on her couch. Who was she saving the couch for? Those things were awful.

My point is, in life we sometimes want to save the best things for another time. What if another time never comes? What if the Lord calls you home before you got the chance to use that fine china or the sterling silver flatware or the fancy drinking glasses? What if you never got another change to wear that suit or that dress or those shoes?

My opinion is to use it now while you can and thoroughly enjoy it. Wear it out from the inside so it will be no good for someone else. Put holes in those special shoes, use that fancy room in the house, drive that car, go say hello to that neighbor, call that family member and the list could go on for pages. Get all the joy from it because that someday you are waiting for, may never come. KT

Being around the right people

Career, Life

I heard a guy say many years ago that the person you will be in five years will depend on the people you associate with and the books you read. The more I think about this statement the more I believe it is true. If you spend your time only around small minded people who talk about other people, you will become a small minded person that talks about other people. If you are around people with dreams, desires, and goals, you will become a person with dreams, desires, and goals.

In society today many people may not have the opportunity to be around people of influence, so they must find that association another way. Through the books they read. People learn the most by the people they associate with, but the second greatest influence is the books you read.

I get a chuckle when I think about how I learned to sell hotels. It was 1990 and the company I joined probably let me join just to prove the point that not everyone can sell a hotel. Ha. They thought you had to have education, contacts, experience and know the business. Well, that’s wrong.  What you needed was the desire. The company I joined didn’t have some training program that developed the broker. No sir. They had a metal two door file cabinet with seven listings in it. My training program consisted of the managing partner taking me over to that metal file cabinet and opening the doors and saying, “there it is, if you can learn it, great, if not, that’s ok too.” Then he walked away. You might think I am kidding but I am not. That was literally it. The point is, I learned the business by being around other hotel brokers and listening to them talk and watching what they did. That was the greatest teacher I could have had.

We often give our children guidelines that we don’t personally follow. We as parents want our children to be around good kids, wholesome kids, kids with manners, kids that plan on college, kids that have been raised well etc. and the list could go on for pages. We seem to want and even possibly demand these type friends for our children, yet many times we don’t look for these same qualities in our friends.

Trust me when I say, it’s likely you will be in five years much like the people you most associate with. Dreams, visions, and goals are most influenced by the people you are around.

Over my years I have hired many hotel brokers, and some have failed. Possibly it’s because I tried too hard to coddle them and train them when what I should have done was open the metal file cabinet and patted them on the back and walked away. Ha. KT

When “I don’t think I can” really means “I don’t think I am.”

Career, Family, Life

That title may be a little confusing. Many times, when people say, “I don’t think I can,” what they really mean is, “I don’t think I am.” Huge difference. A deeper dive is they don’t see themselves as being talented enough, worthy enough, smart enough or capable enough. They have lost some of their confidence and therefore it is much easier to just say, “I can’t,” instead of what the true reason is.

We all go through periods in life when things are going good and periods when things are not going so well. It is in the not so good periods, that we sometimes lose some self-confidence and forget who we are and how we got here. This is what I want to speak to.

It is amazing how the first step can be so hard and so full of dread yet feel so rewarding once we take it. It could be the first step to an exercise program, completing a project, making a change that is long overdue, taking some new educational course, repairing a relationship etc. etc. and the list could go on for pages. Like any decent salesman, I have a call list for every day but many times I find myself looking for anything else to do other than simply call the list. When I take that first step and call the first name, it is interesting how much easier calling the second and third etc. becomes because I took the first step and called the first name on the list.

When you feel a little slower in your step or a little less self-assured, I find that doing a quick personal inventory is what helps me. I think through all the areas of my life (family, friends, work, financial, socially) and it doesn’t take long (for me at least) to realize how very blessed I already am. I also acknowledge that it was God who got me here and not myself. I began to think through all the turns in life that could have gone the other way and yet by the sheer grace of God, here I am.

Again, for me at least, looking back how I got here seems to help me take on the next challenge so I can say “yes I can” because what I am really saying is “yes I am.” KT

Test to tell if someone is authentic and genuine

Family, Life

If you ever need to confirm if a person is authentic and genuine, just ask to meet with them at their home. Take one look in the spouse’s eyes and their children and you will know. If they have a dog, just watch the dog around that person and you will undoubtedly know.  If they have a cat,,,, it won’t tell you anything. Ha

See, you will be able to tell if the person is trustworthy and honest by the way their spouse and children act around them. If their children run up to the person and hug them, you probably have a good person. If they shy away or are inhibited, you should be aware.  If the spouse is a woman, one look at her face, tells you everything you need to know. She can’t hide it. You will be able to tell if she believes in her husband or not.

If they have a dog, it’s a slam dunk. A dog regardless of how it is trained, either feels comfortable around a person or not. It is their instinct, and it will override any training. A dog is an open book, and you will know if a person is who you think they are or not. See, a dog doesn’t have work, entertainment, and friends, they only have you. A dog forgives easy but never forgets how you treated them.  The actions of a dog mirror how they feel about their owner and a dog is the best judge of character you can find.

We could probably do away with much of the criminal court system we have today if we would just video the person on trail in a room with a bunch of dogs. Seriously, the way a person’s spouse, children and animals act around them will give you a good look into the soul of a person. I’m not saying I am a good person, but If you come to my house, I have one little fat dog that won’t even bark at you but will sit at your feet of he trusts you and another little runt (Yorkie) that will lick your face. KT