My son, who is 9 years old at the
end of this month, thinks he is a teenager.
He wants more and more freedom.We try to give him some while trying to manage how far he takes that freedom.
On Saturday, we gave him some
freedom to go play at the elementary school that is right around the corner from our house.He had a bunch of friends over there and he just wanted to be there. After he was there for an hour he came and checked
in. After a second hour, checked in again. But the third hour came and went with no sign of the boy.
Freedom maybe, but not
absolute freedom. I put on my shoes and walked over the school.I walked around the corner and saw a lovely site.I love football and there were about 12 teenaged boys playing football. I located my son who was
riding his bike around the field, he gave me the thumbs up, so I walked over to the game. These young guys saw me coming and asked me to join.
I had been working around the
house so I was wearing ripped jeans and an old shirt. They could tell I was older than they were. I was wearing shoes that should not be used to play football in. Since I was
completely unprepared to play football, I jumped right in. (You did catch where I said I love football, right?)
In life, business, and
football you must make an impression. The guy who was playing quarterback of the opposite team was large ... really large. He was probably 6'1" tall, and must have weighed 350 pounds. He was just dropping
back and standing there waiting for one of his receivers to get open. After the first play, I said, "I'm going to rush you."He said go ahead. So I did. I ran in and put him on the ground. (Did I mention
that I really love football?)
That single moment, changed
the whole game for me. I made an impact by making a tremendous first impression. There wasn't a teenaged boy there who didn't respect me after that. Even though I'm older and certainly don't have the chops I
did when I was 17, they respected this old man.
I realized that we need to do
the same thing in business. I don't know the best way to make a great first impression in your business. Maybe it's your great smile. Maybe it's how you dress. Maybe it's giving something away for free. I
try to make a great impression by being honest and providing quick service. I don't know what it is in your business, but I know you've got to take that thing head on and bring it to the ground.
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