2025 Jan-Feb RETA Breeze

calm and kind. It is a good reminder to not complain when things get rough. I think my take-away is to think before I respond. Give that little voice that says “be positive” a chance to speak up before I say something negative. It's hard to be open to suggestion when you’re always right but give it a try (haha). Maybe, just maybe there may be a time where someone has something positive to add. It is true, if you don’t listen to people, they will stop giving you information. This is one where I think it’s important to understand what “listen” means. This is different from the “I wish my kids would listen” thing. Listen to what they say, understand what they are saying and where they are coming from. Then make the right decision. People will understand if you don’t follow their advice as long as they know you listened to what they said and gave it consideration in your decision. It’s probably important for me to throw something personal in here. If Jason, says it, I always listen (Bossman is the best!). Some people have no problems with this. Some people hate change with a passion chained to the granite foundations of the earth. My dad is one of them. I’ve bought him three wallets because his is falling apart, and he still won’t change it. One of the wallets I bought him is the same brand and color as his old wallet and he still won’t use it. If I could figure out why people resist change, I could make the world a better place. I don’t resist change. I don’t like it, but I have a “let’s wait and see” attitude. Most people believe that in order to accept change, they have to give something up. Most times you don’t, but even if you do have to give something up, what you’re giving up may be much worse that what you’re getting. People also think of change as the end of something. Dad, I’ve got something to tell you (everyone else can listen too). That old Dodge in the barn isn’t better than the newer Charger. It doesn’t accelerate as well, the air conditioner doesn’t work as well, and it doesn’t ride as well. You know it! Change can be good. Embrace it. You don’t have to forget about the old, but you have to embrace the new sometimes. Which brings up my next note on this slide. Change does not have to be permanent. Sometimes, we can change back. SHOCKING! I have a rule here, we can only consider changing back after we have given the change a chance. Never change with the intention of making the change look bad, so you can revert back. It’s not fair to you or to other people. I took a couple of notes on this one. First supervisors should not try to use one teammate to change another. Peer pressure is only effective if it’s genuine. A supervisor should never generate peer pressure. Supervisors need to do their own dirty work. My second note is don’t turn teammates against each other. Eventually they will turn against you. Spark plugs make things happen. They provide the spark that ignites the fuel and drives the engine. If you hire spark plugs, they will do the same thing for your company. These spark plugs will get things done. Hiring them can be tricky. How do you know who is a spark plug and who isn’t. It’s hard. We have limited time in the interview process to determine who is a spark plug and who isn’t. Most spark plugs have a few traits that you can determine in the interview. First, spark plugs don’t “job hop”. Second, sparkplugs value responsibility and

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