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Sunday, March 27, 2011

Duck or Eagle

This was a new one on me.  I'd never seen it and liked it.  I thought you might, too.  
 
 
Ducks Quack - Eagles Soar
 
This puts "life, living, and leading" in a whole new light--"
No one can make you serve customers well....that's because
great service is a choice. Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful
story about a cab driver that proved this point.
He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab
pulled up, the first thing  Harvey noticed was that the taxi was
polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt,
black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver
jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger
door for  Harvey .
He handed my friend a laminated card and said: 'I'm Wally,
your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like
you to read my mission statement.'

Taken aback,  Harvey read the card. It said: Wally's  Mission
Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the
quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly
environment....
This blew  Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the
inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!
As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, 'Would you like a
cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.'
My friend said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.' Wally
smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with
regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice..' Almost
stuttering,  Harvey said, 'I'll take a Diet Coke.'

Handing him his drink, Wally said, 'If you'd like something to
read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated
and  USA   Today..'

As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another
laminated card, 'These are the stations I get and the music
they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.'
And as if that weren't enough, Wally told  Harvey that he had
the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was
comfortable for him. Then he advised  Harvey of the best
route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him
know that he'd be happy to chat and tell him about some
of the sights or, if  Harvey preferred, to leave him with his
own thoughts...

'Tell me, Wally,' my amazed friend asked the driver, 'have
you always served customers like this?'

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. 'No, not always.  In fact,
it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving,
I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the
cabbies do.  Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne
Dyer, on the radio one day.

He had just written a book called You'll See It When You
Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning
expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself..
He said, 'Stop complaining!  Differentiate yourself from your
competition. Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack
and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.'

'That hit me right between the eyes,' said Wally. 'Dyer was
really talking about me. I was always quacking and
complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become
an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers.
The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the
customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes.
I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well,
I did more.'

'I take it that has paid off for you,'  Harvey   said.

'It sure has,' Wally replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I
doubled my income from the previous year. This year
I'll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today.
I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for
appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my
answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get a
reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out
of a Yellow Cab. I've probably told that story to more than
fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea
and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call.
The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all
the reasons they couldn't do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided
to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.
How about us?  Smile, and the whole world smiles with you....
The ball is in our hands!
A man reaps what he sows. Let us not become weary in
doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if
we do not give up... let us do good to all people.
Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar. 
Have a nice day, unless you already have other plans.
       
SORROW looks back, WORRY looks around, and FAITH
looks UP... 
 "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.
It's about learning to dance in the rain."
Have a sparkling day

 

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