I’ve been called a lot of things in my life but never a blogger. But, I’m only 42.
Those of you who know me would say, “Doug, why are you writing a blog? Don’t you have enough to do? Besides, we don’t think you are that great of a writer!”
Honestly, I have no idea other than that Penny Stacy asked me so nicely. I know, for sure, it is not for the money. Maybe it is because Glass Doctor has more than 400 stores in North America and we depend on more than 200 independent business people, with a common goal, to grow them through franchising.
I am honored to have been asked to write this blog. I was born into the glass business. My dad worked at the first Safelite shop and ended up managing the shop. He retired with Safelite after 38 years in 1991. Dad taught me a lot. I had cut my first piece of glass when I was 16. By the time I was 17, I was installing windshields.
I have learned so much in life from my dad. One of those things was the importance of “recognition.” This is by far one of the most important motivations and rewards for efforts of employees, friends, family and, yes, even business owners.
The official definition of recognition is “1: the action of recognizing: the state of being recognized: as a: acknowledgment; especially: formal acknowledgment of the political existence of a government or nation b: knowledge or feeling that someone or something present has been encountered before; 2: special notice or attention.”
Last November, our franchise leadership council, made up of franchisees, gave me a project to redesign the pricing guide used by our franchisees. This project was by far an unbelievable task and I spent every day and night working on it, to the point of only sleeping three to four hours a night for the entire month.
In the months since then I’ve heard some nice things from various franchisees. Honestly, I enjoyed the project. I’m not sure my wife, Karen, did. Looking back Karen handled all of my household responsibilities and chauffer duties for the kids while I was consumed with the pricing guide project.
A couple of weeks ago Glass Doctor had our national convention in San Antonio. While on stage after one of my presentations I received a from-the-heart round of applause from our franchisees. This was more than enough for me to know that the effort was worth it.
We have to realize that recognition can be more important than pay. Let’s say that I would have received a $500 bonus for my work. (I didn’t!) If I would have I would have spent the money on some household project. But I’ll never forget the recognition I got from our franchisees.
What are the rules of recognition?
- It comes quickly;
- Everyone is eligible to receive it;
- It is given for specific actions or behaviors; and
- Anyone receives it for the same behavior going forward.
That said I better get going and give my wife some recognition for putting up with me during the pricing guide project … and handling things while I got stuck in Canada last week … and moving from Wichita to Minneapolis to Kansas City to Waco while I moved from Safelite to Harmon to Glass Doctor over the past 23 years.
Whew. Karen deserves a lot of recognition! (Fortunately she appreciates it more than jewelry!) What about your people? Who should you be thanking right now?
