I love this story:
My friend owns a business that requires large, expensive machines to cut and shape metal. One of the machines he recently bought has been defective. The manufacturer has attempted to repair the machine, but repair attempts have failed.
The machine continues to break down.
After working with the manufacturer and spending some of his capital to correct the problem, he’s at his wits’ end.
He wants a replacement machine.
The manufacturer gives him the run-around. Stalls. They don’t do what they should do.
Finally, my friend says this:
I know your company will be at the trade show in Vegas next week. If you don’t get on the phone with me and make this right, I will show up on the floor of that trade show with the story of this machine in search of someone who will finally listen to me.
He gets no response.
The night before the trade show, he books a flight to Vegas and arrives on the trade show floor the next day. The company’s CEO spots him as he approaches their booth and immediately takes him aside.
Minutes later, they agreed to replace the machine and pay all installation costs.
A company salesperson calls my friend the next day:
“They couldn’t believe you showed up in Vegas. You scared the hell out of them.”
Not surprisingly, this friend was a kindergarten teacher for ten years before leaving education to become an exceptionally successful business person.
Teachers understand one thing above all:
If you say you’re going to do it, you do it, no matter what.
When dealing with children, failure to do so results in disaster. I’ve watched many parents over the years threaten their children with consequences and punishments, only to relent after the fact.
This is a mistake. It always leads to trouble.
The lesson here is simple:
- Never say what you can’t do.
- Never fail to follow through on what you say you’ll do.
In education and in business, this means everything.
