The Workedge Blog
Mark's RemarksTotal Recall
A legendary NFL coach, Chuck Noll, provides a compelling example of the value of reading and learning from historical figures. Noll, one of only two NFL coaches to have won at least four Super Bowls, was a Hall of Famer who coached the Pittsburgh Steelers for 23 years. His biographer, Michael McCambridge, recounts an incident that underscores Noll’s profound understanding of the power of knowledge. At the end of his career, Noll was walking through the William Penn Hotel dining room when he noticed two assistants talking at a table.
“What are you guys talking about?” asked Chuck.
“Total Recall,” they answered.
They were discussing the movie’s concept, which revolved around scientists developing the capacity “to inject specific memories and impressions into the brain.”
“Chuck,” one of them asked, “Can you imagine the power of injecting a completely new and different point of view into the human brain?”
Chuck leaned over to get closer to them, gazed at their faces, and said, “They’ve had that around for hundreds of years.”
“It’s called reading books.”
Dealing with Garbage
“A lot of people are like garbage trucks. They operate full of frustration, anger, and disappointment…in other words, garbage. In time, their truck becomes too full. They need to dump some of their garbage. When they do, that place may be—on you. So, the key is not to take it personally when they dump their garbage. Smile. Wave at them. Wish them well. Then, move on.”
Where Mr. Smith Lives
Understanding customer needs is not just a sales tactic, it’s a fundamental principle. It’s the difference between trying to sell people to gain something for oneself and meeting people’s needs. Satisfying a need might very well equal a sale. An old story illustrates this truth…
It Only Takes One
Billy Graham preached a lot of crusades, none more important than the one he preached in Los Angeles when he was 31 years old. A few months earlier, Graham was emotionally crushed when a crusade in Altoona, Pennsylvania, had been a disaster. Billy even considered discontinuing his crusades…
Winning Over Worry
Dr. David Rosmarin…made the intriguing observation that people who worry usually do not have high levels of anxiety. A worrier experiences the illusion that he can control outcomes. The fact is there’s much more outside of the worrier’s control than he would want to believe. Worriers mistakenly think they are in control of much more than they are.
Don’t Do What You Don’t Do Well
One of the most critical decisions in television history and for my personal entertainment was made over 60 years ago. A young television writer and sometime actor for a popular TV variety series in the 1950s decided to write a situation comedy in which he would star…