| Thank your lucky stars that you live in an era in | | | | ho, high ho, it's off to work we go," originally sung |
| which it is taken for granted that you'll have a lot | | | | by the seven dwarves."That's the way the movie |
| of jobs in your career.I say this because you'll get | | | | sings it," he said. But the real lyrics are, "I owe, I |
| a chance to be influenced by a number of | | | | owe, so it's off to work I go!"I still didn't buy the |
| managers and business owners, and each one has | | | | idea, but through the years, I've come to see its |
| lessons to give. One of my early bosses was a | | | | validity.Generally speaking, I've earned, minimally, |
| graduate of the University of Chicago, a | | | | what I had to earn, what my lifestyle required. |
| philosophy major, no less, and his insights, | | | | Knowing this, I would occasionally stretch to buy a |
| especially into human behavior, were a treat.One | | | | better car or house, figuring somehow, I'll find a |
| day, we were chatting and he said, "Gary, do you | | | | way to pay for it.Granted, it's a backwards way |
| know how to make an average salesman good, | | | | of raising one's aspiration level, but it works.Jim |
| and a good one, great?"Of course, I was clueless. | | | | left me that day with this to ponder:"Gary, |
| "No, Jim, how?""You put him into debt."Naturally, | | | | maybe your monthly payments aren't high |
| he supported this stark and unexpected notion | | | | enough!"Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of |
| with logic."Salesmen earn what they HAVE to | | | | Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote |
| earn, Gary. So, if they have a big monthly nut to | | | | speaker, management consultant, and seminar |
| crack, lots of payments, they'll sell up to their | | | | leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, |
| level of debt."Maybe I hadn't been paying my own | | | | including Reach Out & Sell Someone(R) and |
| bills long enough to appreciate the magnitude of | | | | Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer |
| what he was saying. Also, I was beholden to | | | | Service. He is a frequent guest on radio and |
| Abraham Maslow's psychology. It presumes we | | | | television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC's |
| are creatures of "positive" motivation-we achieve | | | | Annenberg School, Gary offers programs through |
| because we want to."Nonsense," Jim retorted, | | | | UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade |
| after I offered this view. Then, he broke into a | | | | associations, and other organizations in the United |
| Disney chant that played off of the song, "High, | | | | States and abroad. |