THE QATSPY® Yorker Performance Sports Training & Apparel Quarters
By: Charles W. Boatright
What is The Primary Objective in Business?– Product Development, Cost Controls, Performance, and Profits are all Big, But There are 2 OTHERS
Let me be honest, with you, these are the hardest for companies to develop. The successful ones DO!
All of these are big hitters when it comes to conducting business. You want product development, cost controls, performance, and profits, by all means, but there are two others bigger hitters than these. These are the 2-R’s that exist in any profitable and successful business- Respect and Relationships. Respect and Relationships are what brings both employees and customers to your business.
Have you ever had a relative that takes the advice of a stranger over yours and totally rejects your advice. I’ll be the first to raise my hand to this situation, both in a family and business setting. Businesses do the same thing when they feel they have to hire a consultant over their frontline workers. These are the sergeants that make your business run, day-in and day-out.
Respect and Relationship go a long way in building a profitable and successful business. This is not just with your customers that you have identified, but especially with your associates, your frontline workers, as they are your customers too. They call it Customer Awareness.
What I Learned from Working Line Work for 33-Years
I worked in transmission line work with frontline linemen for 33- years as a grid engineer. Linemen are very brutally honest and direct with their opinions and suggestions, but that is exactly what you want in a relationship. Management doesn’t always take this as an asset. But, in reality, it is an untapped resource that upper management overlooks. Believe me, I have been there more times than not. Why do you think I retired at 57? Management places more value on formal education than they do tried and tested experience. They aren’t the same! The biggest failure in the corporate world is when management confuses the two.
Also upper management can’t understand this one simple principle, that we have two (2) ears to listen to others with, two (2) eyes to observe and lean from others with, two (2) hands to reach out to others with, and just one mouth to speak with to others with. Pretty Simple, but upper management don’t comprehend this, not even our governmental leaders, at least until it is too late!
When I had to figure out how best to work up a project, I went first to the line crew and got their input, right off the bat. Especially since that line crew was going to work on the project. Then reach out to others. Some of the best ideas come from this relationship, especially when it came to a climbing belt that offered 100% Fall Protection.
Recognize the Front-line Ingenuity
I was the chairman of the Fall Protection Committee when we received a belt from a vendor that was awkward and very cumbersome to use. The linemen hated it! So Scottie Lamb, a Lineman on our committee took the lead and worked up a climbing belt that was as close to free climbing that was by far a better climbing belt that than the vendor’s belt we had. We reached out to them to see about putting it into production; they ignored us, can I use the phrase- Blew us Off?
It wasn’t until we went to another vendor that they all of a sudden had an epiphany, as now that belt is their top seller. The respect and relationship I developed with our line crew made their job easier and better. Along those same lines, during a routine monthly meeting with our linemen, they made a suggestion of crows feet at certain attachment points on our poles. Below are the results of their suggestions.
Something we Could Learn from The Auburn Situation
NOTE: I’m going to stress that we don’t know all the facts, but this is what we do know.
Even if you’re a head coach, you’re certainly not the boss. And when you arrive in a new neighborhood, like the SEC, you have to establish strong relations and respect for the culture you are in. If you weren’t the odds on favorite for the job, your main job has just became developing those relationships and respect for others.
And because you’re behind the 8-ball, doesn’t mean you have to stay there. Your success is dependent on developing respect for the culture and going the extra mile, just because you aren’t the favorite for that job. Being humble goes a long way in developing those long-term relationships.
I would like to use Coach Sam Pittman’s selection by the AD, Hunter Yurachek, as an example. I realize that Sam Pittman has ties to Arkansas and to the SEC. But that didn’t make his selection questionable, especially by sports reports in Mississippi and Alabama. I listened to and was on these shows that poked fun of the selection of Coach Sam Pittman. But Coach Sam Pittman’s Blue Collar humble character knew the importance of Respect and Relationships, especially with the High School Coaches.
If you just follow his Twitter, you’ll see a heavy presence of Coach Sam Pittman and his staff getting out with these high school coaches and boosters. You can’t help but love Coach Pittman. If he came into a restaurant where just ordinary people like myself were having lunch, he would treat you like an old friend. Why do I know this, because of the 2-R’s, Respect and the importance of developing relationships.
One thing I do Know- that Coach Sam Pittman GETS IT, Something that CEO, middle and upper management needs to take note of. You don’t have to know everything about all things, go to the front-lines and asked questions and learn from those that actually do the work! I know this is a novel and revolutionary idea, but it works! You know what was one of the first phone calls Coach Sam Pittman made, it was to Coach Barry Odom, a former head coach at Missouri.
The last month that I worked, I loved my crews so much that I spent the last two weeks in the field working with them. Because I knew the people that I would miss the most, my friends and lineman. They are the modern-day cowboy. It didn’t matter the time of day or weather, they showed up, not just because it was their job, but because they have a passion for what they do. Today, management takes this passion away because of the lack of Respect and Relationships, of NOT US and THEM, but ALL of US!
This is How Sports Translates directly into the Corporate World, and this is why Sports are too important not to invest in.
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Please contact us to arrange for a corporate golf Instructional outing, ■ How to take advantage of Sportsmanship and coaching techniques to apply it to your workforce and build a motivated team ■ and How to develop mental and physical fitness in the workforce for health and wellness. A stronger workforce is a better performing workforce.
My online store, THE QATSPY®, specializes in Sports performance apparel that offers both men and women clothing for the office and the weekend. I wear my A-2 Leather Flight Jacket traveling for business meeting clients and what I call my Buffalo Rider’s Jacket. This A-2 Leather Flight Jacket offers that Charisma look for all occasions.
Promoting Your Business
There’s is nothing that gets notice like our authentic our Leather Flight Jacket that we can personalize for companies, organizations, or individuals. Each jacket comes with its own spokesperson that knows your business. Our collection of Leather Jackets are better than business cards, but make sure that you carry plenty of business cards with you; because you will need them. We have a interior linear pocket where I carry my business cards.
THE QATSPY® AMERICAN CLASSIC LEATHER JACKET COLLECTION
The U.S. A-2 Leather Jacket has been a major part of our history (both military and civilian) since 1931 when the U.S. Army Air Corps developed and issued the leather flight jacket to pilots during World War II. A version of this iconic and classic A-2 Leather Flight Jacket became the persona of two legendary entertainers/actors- Fonzie in Happy Days and Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
As Fashionable are our US WINGS® Jackets are, your best fashion is Your Fitness
In the photograph below, I’m 64 years old. This photograph was taken after we did a WINTER Photo shoot (18Jan22) for our line of US WINGS® Leather Jacket that I carry in our online store. We took advantage of an unseasonable warm January day in the mid-60’s to do this photo shoot. The camera crew challenged me to an AB Challenge where I’m posing without my shirt. I credit my DELPHI DIET & FITNESS System for my physical condition, and the condition of my skin.
