Small Business Leadership and Sales Blog

As a Corporate Training Specialist for the Dale Carnegie Courses in the early '80's, I had the honor to meet a man named Morris Starnes. Morris was one of our students in our Baton Rouge Dale Carnegie Course.

This is his true story. I was there in attendance.

When Morris would get paid, he would put all of his bills in his hat.

He would pull each bill out 1 by 1 and would write the check for that particular bill.

When he was out of money, he would not pay the remaining bills. His viewpoint was that he did all he could do, until next time. Back to work he would go. 

So as fate would have it, an angry bill collector calls Morris one night demanding he pay the bill owed.

Morris, an honorable hard working man, explained to the collector that he knew that he owed the bill, but that the bill collector has just been unlucky for 2-3 months in a row. At this point, the confused bill collector asked Morris to explain himself.

So Morris, in his slow, country drawl patiently explains to the caller his bill paying system.

Step 1
All bills go in his hat.
Step 2
Lucky bills get pulled out of hat and paid.

Morris ends his call by asking the collector, now lets understand something, you do realize if you all me again and bug me about that bill, I will take your bill out of the hat? So, don't call me and pray for good luck. If you do that, you might just get paid next month.

When Morris shared his story with us, he was stone cold serious. At the end of him telling us what he told the collector, our group howled and roared with laughter.

This soft spoken, hard working, blue collar tree cutter never knew how powerful of a communicator he really was. But he knows now.

Morris grew immensely in our course and we were all the better for having to meet Morris Starnes.

This is the system Morris used to stop worrying about his bills. Perhaps it will work for you.

Do you have a topic or a question you would like to have covered in our blog?  If so please email Marvin@marvinleblanc.com with your small business challenge or question.  

 

 

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Peace, Love and Gumbo,

Marvin LeBlanc LUTCF, CNP

Two weeks ago we explored the first 3 sub-phases of frustration. If you missed the article, you can read it here.

This week we will finish up with the final 3 sub-phases of frustration, which are anger, justification and acceptance.

Anger is the most important sub-phase. In Cajun terms, people get “pissed off.” That’s the point where they’re going to have to make a critical decision. Contrary to popular thought, there are two kinds of anger: positive and negative.

Negative anger can overtake you if you submit to it. You say, “Man, we are done for. We’re poor and we don’t have a car, so we’re going to wait it out.” It is the thought and feelings of helplessness. You allow the negative energy to control your thoughts and actions.

Some take the attitude as if “Nobody’s going to make me move out of my house.” It is distorted, possessive, hardheaded and ill-conceived reasoning. Most of these people are just plain stubborn.

On the flip side of negative anger is positive anger. Positive anger is where I chose to hang out, and it’s where all of the people who are coming back to New Orleans chose to hang out. It’s where I’m asking you, the reader, to hang out when life is overwhelming and your frustration is overpowering.

Positive anger gives you the opportunity to bypass the other sub-phases of frustration. If you stay in negative anger, you’re going to go straight into the fifth sub-phase.

Justification: You are looking for all the reasons why it’s not your fault that all of this is happening.

You won’t have a sense of ownership. Instead, you might have a sense of entitlement, thinking someone else should fix this and send a helicopter or a boat.

The last sub-phase is acceptance, when you accept that this is your fate, which makes you then stay in a stage of being stuck.

The good news is, that if you have positive anger, you can avoid looking for something to get excited about. You can avoid blaming it on others and you can take on an ownership spirit.

Don’t play the victim.
Don’t play the blame game.
Own it!

With an ownership spirit, you can recommit. This is the most important, and final phase of your attitude.

 

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The New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau was recognized as Gold Elite winner exemplifying a standard of excellence and received the top five votes in their category.

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For more information visit their website: www.neworleanscvb.com

Look for the complete list of M&C 2011 Gold Award winners on www.mcmag.com!

Hello Marvelous People!

A special shout out of thanks goes out to Rod Mabe and his team members over in Coconut Creek, Florida for sharing this great little story. Painting a vivid mental image with proper questions is the point of this story. And maybe just a little “dash” of humor as well ya’ll.

Military Insurance – Sold Cajun Style
Boudreaux, the smoothest-talking Cajun in the Louisiana National Guard, got called up to active duty. Boudreaux’s first assignment was in a military induction center.

Because he was a good talker, they assigned him the duty of advising new recruits about government benefits, especially the GI insurance to which they were entitled.

The officer in charge soon noticed that Boudreaux was getting a 99% sign-up rate for the more expensive supplemental form of GI insurance. This was remarkable, because it cost these low-income recruits $30.00 per month for the higher coverage, compared to what the government was already providing at no charge.

The officer decided he’d sit in the back of the room at the next briefing and observe Boudreaux’s sales pitch.

Boudreaux stood up before the latest group of inductees and said, “If you has da normal GI insurans  an’ you goes to Afghanistan an’ gets youself killed, da governmen’ pays you beneficiary $20,000. If you takes out da supplemental insurans, which cost you only t’irty dollars a mons, den da governmen’ gots ta pay you beneficiary $200,000!

“Now,” Boudreaux concluded, “which bunch you tink dey gonna send ta Afghanistan first?”

Well Marvelous People, one of my Team Members in my Insurance Practice got her car stolen a couple of days ago. Luckily it was found. The thief didn’t take her brand new 2 front tires, but he did take her much treasured New Orleans Saints scarf that hung from the rearview mirror. The thief also didn’t bother to wreck the vehicle either, so that was good too.

But here’s where it gets interesting. After joyriding for about 100 miles, this ultra-intelligent individual must have started to get tired.
So he pulls in AT HIS HOUSE, leaves 2 pieces of clothing in the back seat, and on the floorboard of the passenger’s side leaves 2 items.
He leaves a stolen CD Player and a cassette tape produced by Kenneth Copeland Ministries.

I don’t know why this struck me as being hilarious but it did. Sitting on that floorboard I saw 2 choices. One choice leads to theft conviction and the other helps you understand the importance of salvation and redemption.

I would have loved to have just been a “fly on the wall” to determine how it came to be that you are in possession of stolen property while
still feeling the urge to pop in a Kenneth Copeland cassette. I just don’t think the Kenneth Copeland cassette provides any quality guidance to safely steal another persons’ property.

So I hope you’ve enjoyed this light message today and realize that each day in our lives we have the power of CHOICE.  We can choose the wrong choices (thievery) or we can choose better choices (living a principle centered life.)

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Marvin LeBlanc is a left-handed, right-brained, fun-loving Cajun that is obsessed with Life Performance and Overcoming Adversity. He is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker and founder of Marvelous Performance Systems. Marvin is available for business retreats, keynotes, breakout sessions, workshops, & individual coaching programs. His book “COME HELL OR HIGH WATER” will be available in the Fall of 2011 through New York Publisher www.BloomingTwig.com. To rent Marvin’s brain, contact him at www.MarvinLeBlanc.com and request a Free Personal Coaching Session.

“We are distracted from distractions by distractions.” – T.S. Eliot

So, you’re thinking of all the things you want to get done today, right? May I suggest cutting the list in half? Or even smaller.

Go alone to a quiet place.
A beautiful place and just breathe.
Still.
Quietly.
Peacefully.
Restfully.
Just you.
With you.

Idea: Today, if you have a rocker or a porch swing, be diligent and use it. If you don’t have one, take a slow stroll through a Flea Market or a Garage Sale and find one.

Today — NOW — MOVE AWAY FROM THE NOISE!

Share your ideas and experiences with us here!

Peace, Love and Gumbo

Marvin LeBlanc

Finally the 5 year Anniversary of Katrina is over. And now it is time to give ourselves permission to MOVE FORWARD. So many of you that read my blog were directly involved with this experience called “Katrina”.
Others were not. But they have been a huge support along the way.

I’ve been asked, “Marvin, what did you do on the weekend of the 5 Year Katrina Anniversary?”
Answer: I went back to the exact same place when I was told to evacuate.

That place is Manresa Retreat House.

Use this space as a place to release and reflect. Post a comment and answer the question “What did you do on the weekend of te 5 Year Katrina Anniversary?”

Peace, Love and Gumbo ~

Marvin LeBlanc