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Spreading Contagious EnthusiasmTM |
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In This Issue:
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Christmas 2005
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Life Is All About Relationships!
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CHRISTMAS 2005
Dear Friends,
What an amazing and blessed year it has been - a new book co-authored with Ken Blanchard (the author of "The One Minute Manager"), three speaking trips to Asia, many wonderful new clients, and best of all, a brand new grandson! I am finally feeling at home in Sarasota and still loving every moment of swimming my mile and walking several miles on the beach each day I am in town. It is a blessing to serve as a Trustee at Northern Theological Seminary, on Ken Blanchard's Board for the "Lead Like Jesus" movement, and on the core team for Campus Crusade's Impact XXI. I continue to meet wonderful, caring, interesting people all over the world, and my business is growing by leaps and bounds. The best news of all is that we survived the hurricanes with no damage. Thanks to so many of you for your concern.
Big changes have happened in my family, especially,the birth of Owen Ray Gawlik on August 2 to Gretchen and Randy in Portland, OR. I saw him when he was three days old on my way Singapore and then again on my return trip. Oh, my, he is SO precious! The first week of September I spent in OR loving him and helping Gretchen adjust to new motherhood. I am so proud of what a good mother my daughter is! Randy continues to relish his skateboard time during his breaks as webmaster for Boyds Coffee while Gretchen has chosen to be a stay-at-home Mom for as long as she can. They are doing lots of work on their little home as well as caring for Owen (the baby), Rerun, Maisie and Shadow (the cats) and Ramona (the dog)!
After being honored as one of the four best store managers in the country, Erin was awarded a wonderful trip to Milan, Italy, by Diesel, a "hip" retail store known best for their designer jeans. She got to see the headquarters and meet the founder as well as experiencing some of the fashion areas of the world. In August she moved from Miami to Portland, OR, to be closer to family. Right now she is living in Gretchen's basement, waitressing at the Blue Hour, one of the nicest restaurants in Portland, and saving to get her own apartment. She is hoping to go back to get another degree in Fashion Design in January. I really miss having her close as now all my children are about as far away as they could possibly be and still be in the US!
Garrett and Ashley are blessed with Garrett's job at Microsoft. Although it is very high stress, they take wonderful care of their employees with many family events and fabulous benefits. Garrett is a Senior Business Development Manager in the Windows Media Division and works on licensing new products. Ashley is active in the schools and supervises the remodeling they're doing to their home as well as always providing wonderful craft activities for the children. Gavin is now in second grade and astounded me by recently finishing the third "Harry Potter" book! He loves sports, video games, reading, and doing things with his Dad. Kinsey is 4 and is my "girly girl!" She loves her dolls and could not keep her hands off little Owen when they were there, so she is going to be a good Mom, just like Ashley and Gretchen! I will spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with them this year which will be such fun. They still love the "Grandma bag," a large vinyl bag I keep filled with all kinds of little things (finger puppets, matchbox cars, windup toys, tiny books, etc.). The special thing is that they can only have it in church or restaurants or any place where they have to sit quietly. Whenever I am coming, I always hear, "Don't forget the Grandma bag!"
I have had some wonderful trips in 2005. In April I attended and spoke at the first International Global Speakers Forum in Singapore along with a number of my speaker friends. Then I went on to Thailand for 10 days to visit my brother, Brian, and his wife, Jang, who have just built an absolutely gorgeous Executive Retreat Center in Chaing Mai. I happened to be there for "Songkran" which is the Thai new year celebration. It is a gigantic, wild and crazy water fight in which almost 1000 people are killed in three days when their motorcycles crash. Most of the ex-pats spend the week staying in!
In August my brother, Bruce, invited me to accompany him as guest biologist on a Princess cruise to Alaska, I met the Captain and his wife and even spent some time in the ship's control center! Later in August my friend, Barbara Sadek, the VP of Education for the Society for HR Management, came with me on another speaking trip to Singapore. I feel as if I now have many precious friends in Asia, so I am looking forward to my return right after Thanksgiving. I also went to my college reunion at the University of Kansas in October which brought back MANY memories and made me feel 21 again!
On the business side, I have spoken in CA, OR, OH, FL, WA, KS, and CO to organizations as diverse as Kaiser Permanente to Whole Foods to the American Association of Community Colleges. I have several new products, including an audio CD of me reading my new book, "The Simple Truths of Service", which turned out to be really fun to do. It reminded me of all those years of reading aloud to my children! The book is doing amazingly well - I just heard that Sam's Club is placing an order for 100,000 copies for every employee! Its simple stories of ordinary people who are making a difference is bringing hope and joy to many, a message desperately needed in our world today.
I just signed contracts for three new books due out this spring: "The Simple Truths of Appreciation"; "180 Ways to Spread Contagious Enthusiasm"; and "CARE Packages for your Customers - An Idea a Week for Customer Service." I continue to search for the right publisher for my manuscript, "What to Do When You Don't Know What to Do - Ideas to Support Those Who Have Had a Loss." Please share any ideas or contacts with associations or organizations you think might want to sponsor this book. With all the current crises in our world as well as our aging population, I know this book will help many people, so I'm eager to get it out there.
It has been 5 years since Charlie died, and I recently read this thought, "I have tried to make the best of grief, but I am learning to allow grief to make the best of me." I hope that is true in my life. As the precious holiday season approaches, I want to thank all of you from my deepest heart for your business, your friendship, your unending support, and your belief in me and my message. May these special days be overflowing with blessings and filled with gratitude and the love of family and friends.
Warmly,
Barbara
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December
1-2 Cisco Security, Singapore
5 Radio Interview, Singapore
6 Public Workshop, Learner's Choice International, Singapore
12 - 15 Kaiser Permanente, Santa Clara, CA
17 Central Florida Speaker's Association
23-30 Portland, OR
January
3 Hold, Turks and Caicos Islands
12 Community Center Foundation, Sarasota, FL
15 -16 VisionPoint, Des Moines, IA
17 Hold, Central California HR Association
17-20 DisneyWorld, Orlando, FL
24-28 Shea Homes, Phoenix, AZ
February
1-2 Business Objects, Vancouver, BC
3-7 Portland, OR
6 Kaiser Permanente, Portland, OR
8-9 Publix Super Markets, Orlando, FL
9 -12 National Speakers Association Winter Workshop, Washington, DC
15 Hold, Premiere Speakers Bureau, Nassau, Bahamas
18 Central Florida Speakers Academy
23-24 Raving Brands, Atlanta, GA
March
2-3 North Carolina Healthcare Financial Managers, Pinehurst, NC
7 Hold, Safeway, Bellevue, WA
(Hold for two weeks in Singapore during March)
23 Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Sarasota, FL
April
2-7 Hold, Kaiser Permanente, Santa Clara, CA
8 Greater Los Angeles Speakers Chapter, LA, CA
18 Hold, TG, Austin, TX
19 Nordstrom, Salt Lake City Utah
20 Nordstrom, Denver, CO
21 Nordstrom, Portland, OR
22-24 Portland, OR
28 Hold, American Marketing Association, Chicago, IL
30 - May 2 National Association for Employee Recognition, Naples, FL
May
2 NAER, Naples, FL
3 Hold, Premiere Speakers
5-6 Hold, Heartland for Children, Lakeland, Fl
8 Society for Human Resource Management Coordinators Conference, Coral Gables, FL
9 - 10 Hold, Total Event Resources
16 Tri- County Human Resources Conference, Naples, FL
June
1-2 Hold, Kaiser Permanente, Santa Clara, CA
8 Hold, Chicago Health Connection, Chicago, IL
10-11 Hold, Island of Cypress, Greece
12-13 Society for Human Resource Management, Atlanta Chapter, Atlanta,
GA
24- 28 National Society for Human Resource Management Convention, Washington, DC
26 Mega Session, SHRM
27 Mega Session, SHRM
29 - 30 Kiwanis International Convention, Montreal, Quebec
You can reach Barbara at the following address:
Barbara Glanz Communications, Inc.
6140 Midnight Pass Road #802
Sarasota, Florida 34242
941-312-9169; Fax 941-349-8209
email: bglanz@barbaraglanz.com
Website: www.barbaraglanz.com
To view Barbara's Client List, go to www.barbaraglanz.com
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LIFE IS ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS
As I was speaking to Bank of America managers in Dallas some time ago, I talked a lot about building relationships - relationships with employees, relationships with colleagues, and relationships with customers. These folks were each going to manage their own banking centers, and they were at the very end of a three month training session. They had been in class since early morning, there had been an open bar and dinner, and then I was scheduled to speak, certainly not the professional speaker's favorite venue!
What happened that night was absolutely amazing as these precious people opened their minds and hearts to fully realize the awesome opportunity they would each have to create workplaces where both employees and customers would feel valued and respected, places where people could be their very best selves. Not only did I receive a spontaneous standing ovation when I finished, but people lined up across the room to give me a hug, and many waited for nearly an hour to have me sign their books. Later that evening as I was pondering the tremendous impact my words had on the audience, the connection that occurred between us, and the deep spirit of caring that was created in that room, the following thought occurred:
LIFE IS ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS! Some last a lifetime, others are precious gifts of the moment, but some, even though short-lived in the eternity of time, will change our lives forever.
These are the relationships that imprint themselves onto our very being and stretch us in ways that can bring both intense joy and excruciating pain. And yet most of us would never wish them out of our experience because these deep soul connections teach us more about our real selves than we could learn in any other way. And even though life may force us to move on to other paths, we are grateful.
"Life is made up of many partings welded together."
Charles Dickens, "Great Expectations"
"I am a part of all I have met."
Tennyson's "Ulysses"
"I would like to think of our friendship as being like two rivers, which one day, within the fleeting moments of time, met and suffused - two rivers that arose from different valleys to flow together toward the sea. As time would have it - our lives - like rivers, stir and break to carve our separate courses toward destiny's distant uncharted waters. No longer will the rivers together flow - no longer will they laugh at rain together. Time and space will be between them. But as friends who together flowed through the valleys of knowledge, each will retain a part of the other. Each, several years hence, will look back upon moments past with a smile.
Sometimes rivers meet again - if only for a span - so perhaps somewhere within the eternity of time our lives will again converge. But ... if not even for a moment can we relive the friendship we have had - I will cherish until death the mere fact that I have known you."
How blessed I feel to have loved and been loved in a wide variety of relationships throughout my lifetime. We may lose our health, our possessions, and even the physical presence of those we love, but NEVER will we lose the memory, however fleeting the relationship, of connecting heart to heart and soul to soul.
For each friend I've met on my journey -- from seat mates on airplanes, to members of my audiences, to friends who have walked beside me for over 50 years -- I say from the depths of my being, "Thank you for touching my life."
When I think of a life filled with purpose and meaning, it is all about building relationships. What kind of relationships are you building each day?
Blessings and love,
Barbara
BARBARA GLANZ BIOGRAPHY
For free articles you can use in your company newsletters and an archive of dozens of immediately applicable "Ideas of the Month," go to www.barbaraglanz.com. Barbara Glanz, CSP, works with organizations that want to improve morale, retention, and service and with people who want to rediscover the joy in their work and in their lives. She is the co-author of "The Simple Truths of Service" with Ken Blanchard, the author of "Balancing Acts - More than 250 Guiltfree, Creative Ideas to Blend your Work and your Life" (Dearborn 2003), "Handle with CARE - Motivating and Retaining Employees" (McGraw-Hill 2002), "CARE Packages for the Workplace--Dozens of Little Things You Can Do to Regenerate Spirit at Work" (McGraw-Hill 1996), "The Creative Communicator" (McGraw-Hill 1998), "CARE Packages for the Home" (Andrews McMeel 1998), and "Building Customer Loyalty" (McGraw-Hill 1994). As an internationally known speaker, trainer, and business consultant who has a Master's degree in Adult Education, Barbara lives and breathes her personal motto: "Spreading Contagious EnthusiasmTM." She has presented on six continents and in all 50 states since 1995. For more information, she can be reached directly at 941-312-9169; Fax 941-349-8209; email: bglanz@barbaraglanz.com; website: www.barbaraglanz.com.
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From "The Simple Truths of Service" by Ken Blanchard and Barbara Glanz.
Simple Truth # 2:
"Great Service Uses Outside-the-Box Thinking"
One way to get customers to brag about you is to begin thinking outside the box. That's exactly what the owner of this appliance repair company did. When I called him to find out how he could service people the day they called, he explained his story. It turned out that he had been a fix-it man in Massachusetts. Because of his health, his doctors suggested he move to a warmer climate. When he got to San Diego, he would find out when people were moving into a house they had just bought. He would knock on the door and tell them that he was a fix-it man. If they needed any painting or repairs done, he would be happy to do it at a reasonable price. All he asked was that they agree to refer him to other customers if they liked his work.
This guy always showed up on time, did what he said he would do with high quality, and charged a reasonable price. People loved his work. He built his business up so much that when old customers would call to get him to do something, very often he didn't have time because he was so busy. A number of people suggested to him that he start his own company. But he was reluctant, because he was concerned about managing employees and having a big payroll.
One day he woke up in the middle of the night with a brilliant idea. About thirty percent of the people living in San Diego are retirees. Many retirees are bored. They'd love to have something to do, and if they can help other people that's even more special. So he put an ad in the local paper that said:
"Retirees: If you're good at fixing things, want to help people, and make some extra money, give me a call."
It turns out he had 25-30 retirees on call every single day. So if a customer like my mother called, he had someone he could send out to her. And he didn't have the problem of a big payroll. If the people didn't work, they didn't get paid. Laughingly, he told me that he had a hard time paying some of the people, because it goofed up their Social Security. They just loved the work.
How's that for out-of-the-box thinking? Johnny didn't do too badly on that score, either.
(If you would like to order a copy of "The Simple Truths of Service," go to www.barbaraglanz.com/simpletruths.)
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© Barbara Glanz Communications, Inc. 2005. All Rights Reserved.
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