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.

No, not bicycling… It isn’t the wheels that are spinning. It’s my head!

I’m in the middle of what feels like an endless cycle of effort: like being on a treadmill and having absolutely no control of the speed or the pitch and all you are doing is fighting like hell to keep up. And, it isn’t any one thing…

I could lay it all off on the magazine writing I do, but I’m caught up. Actually, if you want the truth, I’m slightly ahead of the deadlines on both magazines: a great feeling if I do say so myself. And, if that was all I was doing I could take a deep breath and maybe even relax a little. But, and you may have already guessed this by now, it isn’t… And, I can’t.

I just finished writing ‘my’ article for our newsletter, AutoInsights… And, a response to a number of the comments on the Counterman.com website – one of the two columns I write each month. There have been forty-one comments on this one particular article – a significant number of comments for a trade magazine, especially one in our industry. And, that deserves (demands) my attention.

Before that, I felt compelled to comment on a blog post penned by the president of one of the trade associations I belong to. Most of the time I’m able to persevere and have the discipline to ignore posts like these regardless of who the author might be. But, this time the subject was one I have written about extensively myself and just couldn’t stay away. I wrote a blog post for my other blog at: CaptainCarFix.blogspot.com. And, a guest editorial. So, it isn’t as if I haven’t been writing.

Quite the opposite, really. I think I’ve been writing too much – just, nothing for here which is why I’m writing this now when I should be getting ready for bed. Guilt is perhaps the most powerful of all motivators and I’m feeling pretty guilty about focusing all my efforts elsewhere.

So, here I am, apology and explanation in hand… With a promise to be more diligent, even if it is unclear who – if anyone – is out there. Regardless, I’m here and as long as I have the keyboard I guess that’s all that matters.

When I return, I’d like to share some of the ideas that have been bouncing around in my head: ideas from the latest of Seth Godin’s two newest books, Tribes and Linchpin. There are some important ideas buried in the pages of both and I think they are worthy of sharing. Until then, it’s time for me to quite…

Know how I know? Lesley, my wife, just told me so!

I went to an association meeting in Santa Barbara last… Well, that’s not exactly true. Actually, I didn’t just go to an association meeting in Santa Barbara last night… I was the guest speaker.

Someone is probably thinking, “Santa Barbara? That’s more than seventy miles away! Why would you leave work early on a week night and fight the traffic up the Coast just to go to a meeting… even if you were on the agenda?” And, realistically, that’s a fair question. It is far, and it is a long drive: especially, after working all day.

The answer is elegantly simple. I did it because I was asked. That may sound like an over-simplification of sorts, but it isn’t really. I write for an industry trade publication and that means putting yourself ‘out there’ and one of the ways you do this is by making yourself available if and when you can.

There is another reason you do it and that reason is just as elegant, if not quite so simple. In fact, it’s a bit complicated. You do it because you have something to say… Or, at least, you believe you do. And, say it you must.

It’s an integral part of who you are, the most basic element of your being here: a big part of your purpose.

I guess, there is a third, less compelling reason as well; and, that is the ride up. If there isn’t any traffic – and, last night there wasn’t any to speak of  - I don’t think there is more beautiful stretch of “windshield time” scenery than the Coast Highway or the 101 Freeway between Ventura and the Northern tip of Santa Barbara.

If you aren’t familiar with the term “windshield time,” I’ll explain. It’s those long, sometimes isolated, sometimes difficult, miles between stops when you find yourself on the road. It is the countless miles with nothing to do but think about ’stuff.’

Last night’s ride to Santa Barbara was one of the best opportunities for “windshield time” I’ve ever experienced in a while: a beautiful sunset after a perfect day accompanied by good company and great – albeit, sometimes esoteric – conversation.

As good as the ride there may have been, the ride home was better… Why? Because, there was more to talk about and one of those many things was this idea of purpose.

I’ve thought about his a lot. And, in the end, I’ve come to believe that purpose is the single most critical element driving any kind of substantive change even if we don’t recognize its presence or understand its role entirely.

It is a sense of purpose that allows us to move out of our respective comfort zones and drives us into uncharted territories and great accomplishment… If we let it.

It is a sense of purpose that motivates us and allows us to stand alone against overwhelming resistance or great adversity: even danger… If we let it.

And, it is almost certainly an absence of purpose that dooms most organizations, projects and initiatives to fail.

Purpose is contagious…  Or, at least, it should be. When it is, it manifests itself as the passion of a movement. When it isn’t, it is almost instantly suspect and you’ve got to wonder about its imperative. A sense of purpose is the gift leaders offer those who follow: and, the purpose of purpose is to guide us and keep us moving forward, ignoring the displacement, frustration and exhaustion that can accompany great effort and/or great change.

On the ride home, it occurred to me that to a large degree this sense of purpose is the great divider separating success from failure; achievement and accomplishment from disappointment and despair. This is important because it forces us to confront our purpose: the what and why of who we are and what we’re doing, and whether or not that is enough to sustain us.

That was a lot to think about on the seventy-three mile ride home; more than enough to keep my mind occupied. For my next trip, I think I’ll consider this concept of purpose and how it relates to Vision, Mission, Goals and Objectives.

Would you like to join me?

If you read our newsletter, and I hope you do… You know that this is our 30th Anniversary year at this location and that I’ve asked those of you who have been with us for awhile to share your “Schneider’s Automotive” stories with us.

Thirty years is a long time and as a family, we – and, particularly, my father – were (and, probably still are…) nothing if not “colorful.” My thought was, there is a good chance there are some really “tasty” stories out there and that some of our ‘newer’ clients might enjoy if some of our ‘older’ clients were willing to share them.

You never know how a request like that is going to work out. Lots of people have both the memories and the stories to share, but find themselves reluctant. Nevertheless, I thought I would ask.

I’m at the shop and in my office. I just looked up at the clock… It’s approximately seven:fifty and I’ve been here since a few minutes after six.

If you want to know what I was doing here, pop over to captaincarfix.blogspot.com. It’s all there.

I was just finishing up the entry for that blog – which has a slightly different focus, and consequently, a slightly different flavor – when Suzie Lanergan appeared at the counter. Suzie was in for ‘normal’ service, but couldn’t leave until she shared her “Schneider’s Automotive” story with me: and now, I’d like to share it with you.

Suzie has been coming in since she was in college – she would probably, or will probably, kill me for sharing this because that was a few weeks ago – but, it goes to the heart of what I was asking for. And right now, at this particular moment, there is no way to express just how it made me feel.

Her earliest memories of this place go back to a time when my mother’s office was actually the waiting area and people were supposed to enter through the door that hasn’t opened in decades: the original design – which, of course, didn’t work. Regardless, Suzie remembers coming in, waiting in the office for her car to be done: doing schoolwork, talking to me, Mom or Dad, and then heading off.

When we talk about ‘old’ clients, you have to understand that Suzie’s family is among our ‘original‘ clients: the clients who started with us when we first opened – when I first opened, the76 station on Tapo Street and Cochran – and, that was the year before we opened here.

So, Suzie’s memories go back thirty-one years!

What she was able to express that warmed my heart perhaps more than anything else, was how she felt and still feels coming in after all these years: welcome, respected, recognized and appreciated. I’d say, “like part of the family,” but we all know that we can take family for granted at times.

You can’t do that with clients. At least, not for long.

It isn’t hard treating Suzie like she’s special… She is. In fact, Suzie is wonderful! (And, was trying to save the whales long before saving the whales was as popular as it is today – Just look at her license plate and you’ll see!).

That was Suzie’s memory… She shared it with me and now I’ve shared it with you.

If you have a Schneider’s story, please let me know. I’d love to hear it and if I’d love to hear it, I’m almost willing to bet someone else would love to hear it as well!

I’m sick!

Not the kind of sick that sends you sprinting into the arms of a psychiatrist, although I know a number of people who would argue that’s exactly where I belong.

And, who knows: in the end they could be right! Aside from that, who am I to argue! Especially, when the numbers suggest that one out of every four people is nuts.

Think about that for a moment: one out of four! If that really is the case, you need to think about your three best friends. Do they seem normal? Are they OK? If they do, and if they are: chances are you’re “the One!”

But, even that’s OK. Because, I for one, think ‘normal’ is more than a little over rated!

I’m talking about ’sick’ as in infirmed. You know, head stuffed up, runny nose, chest congestion, head ache, and on and on and on! the kind of sick that makes you look terrible and feel worse, the kind of sick you won’t do anything about because you think it’s ‘just a cold’ and going to go away any minute. That’s the kind of sick I’m talking about…

When it became apparent the symptoms were getting worse and not better, I began to think it might not be a cold after all: I decided it had to be the flu! But, which one…

Was it the ‘normal,’ run of the mill kind of influenza that’s currently making its rounds? Or, could it be something more exotic? After all, I did fly to Philadelphia and back. I was in an airplane: an aluminum alloy germ factory, for more than ten hours! The temperature change was violent: seventy degrees here, twenty-five there. In fact, I just missed the almost three feet of snow they just experienced!

And, what about that weird guy in seat just behind me… the one hacking up a lung all the way to Los Angeles! He didn’t look like he was from either Philadelphia or L.A. In fact, he didn’t look or sound like he was from anywhere on this side of the world.

He looked like a carrier, if I ever saw one: the kind of guy who wouldn’t miss an opportunity to kiss a pig!

Or, that woman… the one just across from me, the one with the little kid who kept sneezing. Or, the flight attendant with the runny nose.

That was just a week ago, and now I’m the one sneezing: the one coughing, the one with the runny nose.

I let this run its course for last couple of days hoping against hope I would turn the corner and start to feel better. I took my vitamins, downed my supplements, drank my orange juice: all to no avail. So, this afternoon I went to the doctor only to find out that what thought was a cold in the beginning, and the flu in the end: was really bronchitis coupled with a sinus infection complicated by a very, very sore throat!

The doctor told me to go home and get into bed… I told her that she’s been reading too much fiction! I can’t. I don’t have that luxury. And, I’m not sure I would go home and get into bed even if I could. I know there are plenty of things you can do in bed when you’re feeling OK. But, what is there to do in bed besides sleep WHEN YOU ARE FEELING LOUSY!

And, that’s not the worst of it! Being sick is annoying and downright inconvenient! I want to go to the “Y” and swim. I can’t – partially, because I know I’ll sink to the bottom of the pool and drown the way I feel right now. And, partially, because I don’t want to be the guy responsible for getting half the people in the pool sick: the one responsible for the next pandemic!

I want to get back to my martial arts training. But, I can’t, pretty much for the same reasons. I have all kinds of other things to do. But, I can’t. For the most part, because I’ve got nothing left by the time I get home from the shop at night.

So, if you come to the shop tomorrow don’t shake my hand. If you do, ask for the Purell. It’s waiting for both of us just behind where I sit. I’ll understand. In the meantime, I’m going to take the bag full of medication the doc prescribed for me and get into bed because I’m sick and sick sucks, and the only thing I feel like doing is sleep…

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.

I’ve been interested in this ‘blogging’ stuff almost since it started. But, interest isn’t always enough to motivate one to action.

I don’t watch television because it is a distraction I can ill afford. I work eleven or twelve hours a day at the shop and spend most evenings writing for both sides of the industry I am involved in. If you understand deadlines and recognize the kind of writing responsibilities I’ve accepted, it shouldn’t be hard to understand why someone like me would not allow themselves the luxury of getting involved with a series they know they’ll never be able to follow?
So, despite my interest, I never allowed myself the luxury of following a blog or a blogger until my son started writing about his Iron Man training experience (theironmadman.com).
You might be able to ignore a televisions series, but it’s unlikely you would be willing to ignore one of your kids – especially, when that kid is as articulate, thoughtful and as entertaining as mine is.
Consequently, I found myself ‘hooked’ on Ryan’s blog for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the tendency most writers have to share their innermost thoughts and feelings in print more readily than they might in conversation. The interesting thing about following his blog is that it inspired me to go back to the gym and start training again myself.
At about that same time, and through the same son: I discovered Seth Godin’s blog and became an addict almost instantly. That blog started me thinking about my own business in ways I never even thought possible before. Now, I wouldn’t think of starting the day without checking in with either.
Reading about blogging and starting to follow more and more blogs forced me to consider blogging myself – a difficult decision when you aren’t sure you have anything of value to contribute to the terabytes of material already out there. Nevertheless, I added this blog to our company website.
After I started blogging here, I discovered that there were parts of my life independent of the shop and my industry involvement that I felt compelled to write about.
Please note the use of the word ‘compelled.’ Somehow, this ‘blogging stuff’ has gone from an interest – and, a moderate one at that – to an obsession. Note to self: do not get obsessive-compulsive, anal-retentive individuals started on projects that feed their compulsive-obsessive nature! Not, if you want them to stop! Not, if you care whether or not they ever enjoy a normal life again!
So, I started a second blog… Not bad for someone who didn’t see the need to have a first one! Now, I spend more time than I would like agonizing over what to put where, and whether or not I really do need two blogs in the first place.
Barring all that, I’ve got to tell you that from a personal point of view, whatever this is: it’s weird! You start out not knowing what you’re going to say one moment, and then trying to figure out how to stop the next.
It’s kind of like going to therapy without a therapist: you’re on the couch struggling to make a breakthrough, struggling to say something substantive, when all of a sudden you’re stricken with verbal diarrhea and find that you just can’t stop! And, all the while – not a sound can be heard, because there is no one there to guide you.
It’s like talking to yourself, only you’re not. You’re talking to anyone and everyone out there who will listen.
You’ve got to wonder what it says about us: this need to connect, the need to communicate, the need to share the intimate details – the minutia, of our lives, with literally everyone in the known universe.
What does all this say about the nature of our relationships and how we choose to interact with each other? Is this some kind of a window into an ‘arm’s length’ future where relationships become more virtual than real; more distant than intimate?
I don’t know and I’m not sure, but this does seem like a good place to ask questions like these: doesn’t it?

I started my career as a writer as a speaker…

In other words, the first thing I wrote back in the Fall of 1984 was a kind of “State of the Service Industry” presentation for the Equipment & Tool Institute. Having a “hands-on” person come to speak to them about the industry and the important role the right equipment can play had become a tradition. As it turned out, the person originally chosen decided not to take advantage of the opportunity and I was the second choice, or maybe the third: whatever the number, I was the backup technician who said, Yes.

There are a couple of things worthy of mention here. First, I was a very angry, frustrated and disillusioned 38-year-old technician with two small children, a house, a dog, a fairly new family owned and operated automotive repair business and a bone to pick with the ‘greater’ automotive service industry for all the inequities and injustice I felt I was being forced to endure.

Second, I had absolutely no idea what was expected of me. No one established any ground rules: things I could or should write about, and the things I shouldn’t. No one indicated there were any industry taboos – things that were just not discussed in polite society or public gatherings. No one even told me how long the speech should run other than to say I was scheduled for the hour before lunch.

Now, Me: unsupervised and uncensored, can be a very dangerous thing!

Left to my own devices, with little or no understanding of what was expected of me and less supervision, resulted in a presentation that filled the fifty-five minutes allotted with an itemized laundry list of just about anything and everything that was wrong with my industry: everything you just weren’t supposed to talk about and it caught everyone in the room off guard!

Their reaction was terrifying! There wasn’t sound to be heard in a room filled with hundreds of automotive industry executives. There wasn’t a cough. There wasn’t a sneeze. It was a silence lasted what felt like an eternity… And, I just stood there not knowing what to do until someone finally just stood up and started clapping.

Within a few seconds the entire room was standing and clapping, and I still didn’t know what to do.

When I returned to the shop following the presentation one of the first customers to ask how everything went was a clinical psychologist. When I told her about the standing ovation she just smiled and said, “Ah, hahhh! A Maslow moment… Your life will never be the same!”

I had no idea what she was talking about. I asked what she meant by all that, and she proceeded to explain a little about Abraham Maslow, the concept of self-actualization and the “Hierarchy of Human Needs.” Frankly, I still didn’t know what she was talking about until she said that the standing ovation was a “Maslow Moment,” and that I would be chasing it: trying to recreate it, for the rest of my life.

I told her that just wasn’t me, and that while I really enjoyed the moment for what it was: I really couldn’t see myself “chasing” it.

Cut to 2010, about two hours ago, and a presentation I just finished delivering in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, to a couple of hundred shop owners for a large warehouse distributor. Those shop owners were with me. You could feel it in the room! They understood what I was trying to tell them and they ‘got it!’ You could tell from their answers… You could tell from their questions… You could tell they understood by their body language… After more than twenty-five years, you can just tell!

No one stood: no one had to! That wasn’t why I got on an airplane and flew cross country. I’m not even sure whether or not there was any applause: but, there didn’t have to be! I wasn’t there for the applause. I was there to help other people who do what I do benefit from the mistakes I’ve made and the lessons I’ve learned… And, everything suggested that they heard every word of what I had to say.

It was powerful! It was incredible! It was moving!

Perhaps, it was a kind of “mini-Maslow!” But, if it was, it was one of the best possible kinds of Maslow experiences anyone could possibly have because I wasn’t chasing it, and it didn’t just change my life… It changed a bunch of other lives as well, and it just doesn’t get any better than that!