There’s only one thing I can think of that’s worse than being in your car and on your way to the airport at three-thirty in the morning for a six a.m. flight and that is finding yourself in a hotel shuttle van on your way back to the airport at four o’clock in the morning for a six o’clock flight home  some forty-nine hours later.

The six o’clock flight home isn’t the bad part… It’s the traveling in general, the airports and the traffic (Yes! There IS traffic on the 405… even at three-thirty in the morning!). It’s the rush hour traffic you fly into regardless of where you go, especially if where you go is due East and the two or three hours you add to your trip almost certainly ensures you’ll be stopping more than going in the stop-and-go traffic you are certain to encounter. It’s eating alone and being ‘up’ and ready for an eight-thirty keynote followed by a three-hour seminar four hours later. Did I mention the eating alone? And, it’s changing planes or worse yet terminals in Chicago or Dallas.

And… and… and…

The only thing that can make any of it worthwhile: the leaving your home and your life and your business, are the people you meet and the natural beauty that you find yourself immersed in regardless of where you go so long as you allow that beauty to wash over you. That, and the intrinsic beauty of the people you meet every time you venture out into the world and the impact each of them can have on you… if you let them touch your life… And, especially if they allow you to touch theirs.

I left the shop for an association meeting and trade show in Pittsburgh this past Friday. Truth be told, I didn’t want to.

I know… I know… Then, why did you go?

Well, it wasn’t the meeting or the city or even the fact that it’s still winter there. Or, the fact they’ve had more snow than anyone should ever have to deal with. There was just too much going on here: too much going on at the shop, and I was having too much fun doing it to want to go anywhere. But, they asked and I accepted.

So, I got up at three o’clock Friday morning and was on the road by three-thirty.

I went over my notes for Saturday’s keynote in the air. I went over the slides for the seminar I was presenting later on that afternoon. I thought about the internal struggle I am currently confronting as I try to figure out how to break up my marketing budget: how much for acquisition, how much for retention and how much for loyalty and reward. And, then I started to think about how fortunate I am: how privileged.

I was asked… I was asked to share my experience, my knowledge, my life, with some of the most incredible people in the world: the folks who do what I do… automotive service professionals, like me.

They wanted to hear what I had to say. They were gracious and generous and attentive: grateful that I’d come so far to be with them. But, the real truth  is I’m the one who was really grateful. You see, I’ve yet to go anywhere and speak to any group where I didn’t come home enriched by the experience. So, if it sounds like I was whining about the opportunity to get up that early, I’m not. Not, really… I love what I do and I love the people I do it for. In fact, it’s pretty much what I’ve got written down on the little piece of paper I keep in my wallet:

To enrich the lives of those I serve, moving them toward the success that is so elusive in our industry, by sharing my personal knowledge and experience.

In the end, Pittsburgh was wonderful because the people were wonderful (The food wasn’t half-bad either! Especially, that Iron City cheese steak with the coleslaw and French fries built in washed down with some Iron City beer!). So, it’s a pretty good bet you’ll be reading about my getting up long before dawn to share what I’ve learned and where I’ve been with another group of shop owners long before I’ve had the chance to process how much I’ve learned and how much my life has been enriched by the last group of shop owners I just left.

I’m sitting here staring at the screen wondering what, if anything, I should write about.

It isn’t that there isn’t anything to write about. There is… Too much, in fact. Especially, today. And, therein lies the problem. It’s the what, not the if!

It’s not a matter of sharing what happened at the shop or within the automotive service industry as it is a matter of how far I am willing to let you in. How much is it reasonable to share? After all, are we sure you are really interested in what’s going on behind the curtain on the other side of the service counter, or is it just a matter of making polite conversation?

For instance, today was President’s Day and we started the day with a full schedule. This is a ‘good‘ thing, something we work hard to ensure. Holidays like President’s Day allow our educators and government workers and anyone else who has the day off to get their vehicles in while they are off and we are working. In essence, a perfect plan if the work involved matches the time allotted.

But, too often, God laughs when man plans, and if today was any indication: God was hysterical!

The phones were ringing and people were coming in even as we were unlocking the doors. There were messages on the answering machine requesting call-backs for additional appointments and people waiting in the waiting room. Everything was as it should be… Or, was it?

I had already received a call from one of our technicians who was stuck out of town – Yes, car trouble!

Seems somehow poetic, doesn’t it? A professional technician stuck on the road with a broken car!

Now, our three-technician shop is a two-technician shop, at least until one o’clock in the afternoon when Javier is due to return.

In the meantime, we’re writing service, documenting client concerns, ordering parts and trying to figure out how we are going to complete twenty-four hours worth of work (3 technicians X 8 working hours = 24 tech hours) with sixteen-hours worth of technicians (2 technicians X 8 working hours = 16 tech hours).

That was before I looked up, realized it was 8:30 in the morning and Bob hadn’t come in yet. I should preface the fact that I had this revelation recognizing that just about everyone here was surviving various levels of the latest flu that was going around. Well, Bob didn’t escape it either.

Twenty-four hours worth of work: one technician: eight hours… Well, maybe, ten… Or, twelve… Or…

That’s when, as a leader, you reach for the Bosun’s Whistle and call: All Hands on Deck!

The great joy, the incredible confidence that comes from surrounding yourself with great people cannot be over emphasized. We: Bob, Frank, Javier, Steve (And, me…) have been together forever… The ‘New Guy’ has been here for over six years. That means that we know each other and know each other well. Even the porters are extremely well-trained. That kind of experience and discipline is the backbone of our shop and when trouble comes; even when it comes in buckets, we don’t panic! At least, not a lot!

We take a deep breathe, figure out what we can reasonably expect to accomplish and then get to business of getting it done. Everyone pitches in. Everyone helps out. Everyone does whatever they can do to get it done.

Sure, there is stress – It’s always stressful when you have to call a client with disappointing news: “I’m sorry. No one came in today and as a result, your car or truck won’t be ready when promised. We hope it won’t be too inconvenient. And, if it is, is there anything we can do to mitigate that inconvenience.”

The amazing thing is that between all of us pitching in we got a good chunk of those twenty-four hours done… and, done right, I might add!

But, I’m not sure I’m ready to share just exactly how we managed to do that! It’s one of those: To write… Or, not to write! issues: a Trade Secret of sorts.

Or, at the very least: a Schneider’s Automotive secret!

I love to teach…

Well, that’s not actually one hundred percent accurate. What I really love is to help people. And, the way I do that, and have done it in the past, is by sharing what I know and what I have learned over the years. I do it at the service counter with our clients every day. Or, at least I try to.

I do it through the columns I contribute to the magazines I write for and through the books I’ve written… Or, at least I try to.

I do it in seminar work I’ve done and the keynotes I’ve delivered… And, yes, you guessed it: Or, at least I try to.

And, I’ve done it with just about everyone that’s ever worked here. In fact, I don’t think there is anyone who has ever worked here for either my father or myself who hasn’t learned something: something about themselves, or something about their profession while in our care and custody.

Sharing what you’ve learned and what you know is powerful. The exchange that takes places changes both the teacher and the student for ever in profound and powerful ways neither is likely to understand. At least, not while it’s happening. But, the foundation for those changes is poured when the first gift of knowledge is offered.

It’s fascinating, really. One moment your content with everything you know. And, the next you are confronted with something new: something that can and will change you forever.

Why? How?

Because, no matter how hard you try or how much you resist, you really can’t isolate yourself from experience or ideas if or when they are properly, or effectively, or dramatically, or passionately, presented. You can disagree. You can try to ignore what you have been exposed to. You can fight to remain static: unmoved. But, even the act of any of those actions (or,non-actions) is a direct result of the new knowledge you have gained.

The more ‘new things’ you’ve tried, the more experiences you’ve had, and the more mistakes you’ve made: the more you have to offer those around you. When you’ve been as successful as I have at any or all of the above, you have a lot to offer! And, offer it you must…

That’s what we’re doing right now at the shop. We’re sharing what we – all of us – have learned over the years with two young entry-level people and it’s more fun and more rewarding than ought to be legal. What makes it even better is the raw energy and enthusiasm they bring to the workplace – the curiosity and the questions – the constant attention they require – and the thought and consideration that has to go into every response.

Teaching makes the teacher(s) sharper: better, in almost every way, just for that reason… If you care.

When a new-hire asks you what you’re doing or why you’re doing it a certain way, you are forced to you to look at everything you do with a critical eye.

Why do we do this? Because, that’s what we’ve always done it?

Why do we do it this way and not that? Do we recognize the choices available to us, or are we lost in the subtle sameness and comfort of the familiar?

When asked about hiring practices an old friend and very successful businessman would simply say: “Hire for attitude. Train for ability. You can train someone to deliver great customer service – but, you can’t train them to want to!”

That kind of says it all, doesn’t it.

Well, the two people we’re working with are filled with attitude. Not the kind of edgy, in-you-face attitude that too often see on the street or in the movies: the kind that makes you want to show up early so you don’t miss anything! And, that kind of enthusiasm and attitude is contagious. If filled the shop today and had just about everyone smiling. I can’t say that it will last. Or, how long everyone will be riding this ‘high.’ But, I can promise we’ll do everything we can to keep it going because it just plain feels like the right thing to do!

It feels great to share that knowledge – and, in our shop that knowledge totals well over a hundred years! And, it feels better to watch the changes that are taking place: the changes I spoke about earlier, transform these kids.

It’s the ultimate: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for one day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime!”

We’re teaching a couple of young kids just starting out how to fish: we’re teaching them how to fish smart, how to fish efficiently and how to fish intelligently. And, in the process, we are becoming better fishermen ourselves.

There was actually a time when I really enjoyed traveling, particularly on business. I must have enjoyed it because I did it a lot…

How much is a lot? About two-and-a-half million miles on American Airlines alone: enough to qualify for Lifetime Platinum! But, then again, that was before the long lines, lost services and lunatics with C4 stuffed into their Jockey shorts.

You’re probably wondering how in the world a shop owner managed to collect that many miles and for doing what? It’s a valid question that I asked myself a lot. It’s certainly a long way from fixing cars or running the shop. It isn’t, however, a long way from the training I’ve done for the past twenty-five years, the seminars I’ve facilitated or the columns I’ve written. And, the traveling was a direct result of all of the above.

If the truth were to be told, I never enjoyed the traveling. At the very least, it was brutal… Up at four-thirty or five o’clock in the morning to make a six o’clock flight on Friday to work on Saturday and then fly home on Sunday. Or, leaving Simi before six o’clock regardless of the estimated time of departure just to beat the traffic on the 405! Winter trips through Chicago and O’Hare were always an adventure, never knowing if you were going to make it either to your destination or home again without an unscheduled, two-day layover. It got to the point it really was beginning to both look and feel like self-abuse!

Nevertheless, I did it because as much as I hated getting to wherever the seminars were being held; I loved sharing what I had learned and helping other shop owners or distribution professionals understand the service industry better. In the end, I really enjoyed helping other people avoid the mistakes I’ve made. I really enjoyed helping others succeed.

Now, I find myself getting ready for a trip next week and I’m already looking in the medicine cabinet for the antacids! You see, the big difference in my life right now is the shop and the fact that after forty-four years of doing all the different things I’m doing and have done; I like being at the shop and running the business the most. I guess that passion may be why people keep asking me to share what I’ve learned… That, and the fact that what I’ve learned seems to be working.

It’s still a ‘Good News/Bad News’ thing, though. Only it’s both good and bad in both directions. It’s good because I love the training I’ll do and the keynotes I’ll deliver, but it’s bad I have to leave here to do it. It’s bad that I have to deal with airports security, checked bags, and snow; but, it’s good I get to come back home to the shop again when I’m done.

I’ll just have to remember to finish my work early, head to the lavatory an hour and fifteen minutes before we land and then sit quietly doing nothing for the balance of the time we’re in the air before touch-down. That ought to be easy for someone like me: someone who is always doing something, someone who never slows down or stops… Someone who doesn’t necessarily want to be sitting there in the first place!

I’m not a big fan of acronyms. I enjoy the art of communication too much to see it abbreviated. I’m not a big fan of Text or Twitter-speak either. They’re both a kind of lazy shorthand. That’s my right.

If you’re under thirty you might not like, appreciate or understand it. But, that’s OK: I’m old.

Sometimes, however, you come across an acronym that resonates deep inside you: one that is especially meaningful depending upon where you are in your life or what you are reading; and, then consequently thinking. I read a lot… Generally, a book I’ve just started and one I am in the process of finishing: In addition, there is an intimidating stack of articles selected from the growing stack of magazines that pile up on my desk every month no matter how hard I try to muscle my way through them.

I just finished reading the preview of a new business book in one of the articles from one of the magazines in that stack (Fast Company). The book is titled Switch: How To Change Things When Change Is Hard, and it’s by Chip and Dan Heath. In it, the authors talked about a phenomenon they referred to as, TBU: True, But Useless, and the impact it can have on solving problems. I can relate to what they had to say and the arguments they made… more than I’d like to.

You see I was once asked to confront a number of the problems confronting the automotive service industry and was given reams of data to support each of the possible causes for each of the critical problems. Looking back, it was a suicide mission. But, it was a suicide mission of the best possible kind… Impossible: But, noble nonetheless.

The challenges were identified accurately. The underlying cause of each was extremely well documented and supported with the requisite charts and graphs. Conventional wisdom would have had us identify the root cause of each of these problems and then attack it. Conventional wisdom would have had us eliminate the cause so we could then eliminate the problem. The only problem with the conventional wisdom was that it didn’t work: the problems have been developing over a period of a hundred years and this approach has never worked in the past.

Why? Because all the information was TBU: True, But Useless: Because it would take too long and cost too much to do it that way: And, because despite the data: knowledge alone does not change behavior! Results change behavior!

How do you get the results you want, then? You change a person’s reality… You give them a different purpose… You influence; then, change their beliefs based upon that purpose. And, that change in purpose and beliefs will then alter a person’s behavior, and subsequently the behavior of a group.

I wish I could tell you how much of my new thinking is the result of the few paragraphs I just read, and how much of it is based upon my own knowledge and experience. But, I can’t. Like so much of what we encounter as we move through life; it’s all been blended – homogenized – into something more than the sum of each of its parts. My only regret is that I didn’t bump into this idea of TBU before I was forced to confront some of these problems, because I would certainly have approached them differently.

I would have abandoned conventional wisdom. I would have forsaken the research and the data. And, instead would have worked earnestly to articulate what we were trying to accomplish: the ideal result. I would have searched for the bright spots and the bright stars: the people within the industry who have overcome that particular challenge.

I would have tried my best to find out what was working, why it was working, how it was working, and perhaps most important; I would have looked for ways to replicate their success.

If I had it to do all over again, I would do it differently; especially, on the basis of what I just read. And, I believe with a perfect faith the results would be different. And, that someone looking at those results would say, Hey, that’s TBM not TBU – It’s True, But Meaningful, and not True, But Useless.