WHY WE ARE REMARKABLE
The following short essays are a compilation of random thoughts that tie into why we strive to be remarkable. I hope you will forgive any repetitiveness or lack of cohesion. They are different thoughts, about different moments, but I wrote them for you. I believe they speak about me, but really they likely speak about you as well. I hope at least in a small way you will learn about me and what I believe.
Create Your Own Luck
Gary Player is a golfer who won a total of nine Majors (Masters, US Open, British Open and PGA) and 165 worldwide events. In spite of being small in stature he has one advantage: he works very hard. In fact he always works. He is always exercising and working on his golf swing or his putting skills. Someone once asked him how he was so lucky. He said, “The harder I work, the luckier I get.” I just love that statement. In my own experience of starting my businesses, I didn’t and still don’t have all the answers, but what I do have is an intense desire and a burning sense of urgency to make things happen. I believe success is a combination of passion, guts, instinct, determination, hard work, and yes - luck.
DELIVER
One of the core business lessons I have learned from my experiences is to be willing to overcome difficult circumstances. This is a crucial character trait in my employees, partnerships, and businesses as well. Intuitively, I am always searching for employees with the kind of personal style I’d find compatible with my own. My brain is always looking for people with skill, but my heart is also asking, “Will they deliver? Will they find a way to win?” This is the cohesion and resolve that is necessary in order to commit to deliver, and to deliver on time.
Hire Happy People
Our company is not selective in doling out hospitality - we strive to treat everyone the same. We do not give priority treatment exclusively to the privileged. The trick to delivering superior hospitality is to hire genuine, happy, optimistic people who see life as an opportunity and want to be a part of a winning team.
Make People Feel Important
Hospitality is the foundation of my business philosophy. Virtually nothing else is as important as how one is made to feel. Hospitality exists when you believe the other person is on your side. It is present when something happens for you. It is absent when something happens to you. Those two simple prepositions - for and to express it all.
Make it Memorable
Being a loving husband, I made plans to take my wife out for a relaxing evening to a popular restaurant called Roaring Fork. Since the restaurant is always busy, I made reservations several days in advance. Upon arriving at the restaurant with my wife and checking in, I realized I made a mistake and had made the reservation for a different evening. The restaurant was packed and people were waiting to be seated. But the manager came up to us and apologized, even though it was my error, and said if we could give him just a few minutes he would have a table for us. We were stunned! A few minutes later they graciously seated us at a nice table. The manager then came by and made sure we were comfortable and served us with a free appetizer. This is something we will always remember and will share often, because it’s out of the ordinary. I want our team to have the same instincts to know how to wow our customers. If things go wrong, no matter who is at fault, it is our passion to go above and beyond to make things right again.
Provide Consistent, Gentle Pressure
A hallmark of effective leadership is to always provide a clear vision for your business so that your employees know where you’re taking them. It is important to hold people on the team accountable to the highest standards of excellence and to communicate a well-defined set of priorities and nonnegotiable values. Perhaps most importantly, the leader sets the example by conducting business in the same manner in which he has asked his team to perform.
THANK YOU
First of all, thank you for taking the time to read my random thoughts. I hope it’s left you with some things to think about as well as glimpse into a little bit of who I am and what I value. If you have a comment or idea, I’d love to hear from you.
ic ustin ErA
eric@austinlinen.com info@austinlinen.com 700 Lavaca, Suite 1400, Austin, TX 78701
sales@austinlinen.com
Business: (512) 774-6314 / E-fax: (512) 774-6315