Promote Yourself!

I flew into the airport in Charlotte, N. C. on my way to conduct some workshops on team building and leadership for a company in Costa Rica. While waiting on my connecting flight i decided to grab a bite to eat in the large food court area in the airport. As I sat there eating I noticed an airport employee moving around the food court cleaning tables and making sure that the area was clean.

  What really caught my attention was the pure presence of this woman. As she cleaned the tables and chairs she was singing...and I mean singing from her heart and soul. She was literally HAPPY at work. As she moved through the area people would lift their heads from there books, phones, or laptops to take notice. It was like a wave of heads popping up.

  After completing my meal I approached the woman and explained to her that I was having a good day but because of her positive attitude and presence that I was having an even better one. I than asked where her attitude came from. She than explained that she decided a long time ago that if your going to go to work every day you might as well be happy. I told her that that was awesome and if more people adopted that attitude they would be more productive and happy.

  I asked the woman her name, she than put her hands on her hips standing proudly and said "Valerie" with the posture of a super hero. I asked Valerie for a hug and she hugged me tight enough to align my spine. Valerie went on to explain to me that her first job in the airport was as a bathroom attendant. I don't know about you but if i woke up every morning knowing that i was going o be in a bathroom all day I am not sure what kind of attitude I would have.

  Valerie's attitude was so amazing that she named her bathroom Valerie's Happy Restroom. Her slogan was "Everyone can always get a seat". She was promoted to the dining area in the airport because her supervisor's knew she would impact more people with that awesome attitude. I had to catch my connecting flight and gave Valerie a hug. She explained to me that she would not be there in two weeks and a I asked Why? She said that there was a company that found out about her attitude and passion for customer service and they offered her the position of director of customer service in their company.

  Chills went up my spine. I said to Valerie that Because of your attitude you have promoted yourself from the Bathroom to the Dining room to the Board Room. That's the power of a great attitude. How will you promote yourself today and every day with your attitude?

What's Your Vision Prescription?

Goals, Vision, Imagination, and Innovation are personal ideas of how you see things that could be in your mind's eye. I know as a teacher, entrepreneur, husband, and parent I didn't understand why the people around me didn't always understand my vision and ideas when I shared them. I would be excited and share it with some people and they got it. Others however would look at me with a confused expression or one of disapproval. I then would get a bit frustrated, even upset when others didn't get it.


After awhile I started to realize that it wasn't their fault that they didn't get it. It was my fault in the way I shared it with them. I started to realize that not everyone has the same Vision Prescription. Just like having your eyes checked to see what type of vision you have 20/20/,20/40, near sighted, or far sighted I started to focus on what type of mind's eye prescription people had in order to share my thoughts and ideas. As a leader of a family, company, or classroom you must become the optometrist for new ideas.

20/20 Vision

If a person has 20/20 vision it is easier to share your ideas because they have a tendency to see clearer. Just like you, they have great vision in there own ideas, innovation, and imagination. 20/20 doesn't need vision glasses because they are capable of seeing and understanding out of the box concepts and ideas. They have visual thought process and often see in pictures. The picture of what could be is clear. Their vision is not blurred.

20/40 Vision

Those with 20/40 vision are capable of seeing the vision but still need assistance in making it more clear. They can and want to understand the vision, but it will be up to you to help them get all the way. You will need to give them a vision prescription that is not blurred. Perception is everything. If you look at something with total clarity it makes sense. If you see it with blurred vision then it is more difficult to grasp the same thing.

Near Sighted

Near sighted vision can see things off in the distance, but have difficulty seeing what is right in front of them. They have difficulty in grasping any vision, ideas, or innovation that are here and now. They have a tendency to use statements like one day, or if the weather was better, or if I had a different boss or spouse. They focus more on conditions rather than creating the conditions that create change.You may need the assistance of your 20/40 vision people to help them see clearer and grasp the idea that everything is first created by an idea and a vision of what does not already exist.

Far Sighted

Far sighted vision can't see things in the distance. They can however see things up close. In communicating to the Far sighted you need to share your ideas in chunks so that they can move closer to the distant idea or vision that you have. Remember with sharing you vision with the far sighted inch by inch and everything is a cinch.

So work on writing the correct prescription for the correct vision sight. It will be much easier to get others to see clearly.