New CK President | UV Sanitizer Wands | 10G Transceivers | Decision Framework | News to Start Your Day
Happy Monday & Start of a New Month!
***Tomorrow is Election Day*** – Exercise your rights and please plan on voting. This is not just for you, but for your children and their children. (That is, of course, is if you haven’t already voted.)
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Well, it’s the beginning of a week and the beginning of a month. Two new beginnings – and there are just two months until the end of the year. I feel ready to end 2020 well, with purpose and momentum towards our goals.
We have a couple of things to celebrate here at CK. Last week I missed mentioning it here, but it was our birthday! We have been in business for 19 years. Crazy to think it has been that long, yet wasn’t it just yesterday!? Our first pre-owned equipment deal was bought and sold out of Craig’s apartment in October 2001. By December of that year we had a house with a home office. We later enclosed our garage (twice, ha, that’s a story) for office space and moved to an office park in between the two different garage enclosing projects. We had so much energy back then. Ha! Eventually we ran out of space in that first little home, and we moved into a bigger house and leased an office. That was February 2006, by fall of 2007 we were out of space again and moved into the space we have now.
Now if you’ll indulge me in another CK story time: Somewhere between the office park space and moving back into our home office/enclosed garage, we met a guy named Chris. He was a sales person at big box retailer of technology products, and he made an impression. Seeing something special in him, Craig struck up a conversation – turned out, he was in school to get his Cisco certification! We met him after work that night for dinner, and soon he was another member of the team. We worked together for about a year that first time before he left for another, more hands-on, opportunity. He moved up in that company, and eventually left for a better opportunity. Around that time Craig decided he’d really like to work with Chris again. He set himself a reminder to email him every month to ask when he was coming back. One day he gets a reply, “can we go to lunch?”
Soon Chris joined our team again, and it was better than the first time. He’d gained a ton of experience in the other companies he’d work in, and our business had grown and matured as well. Chris is the type of guy who can take on a project, learn all there is to know and get a role around it whipped into shape. He did this in several areas of the business … and then decided he wanted to work for himself. We were sad, but also we were happy for him. (We are always happy to see people go for their entrepreneur dreams!) About a year later, he reached out to say his business was doing well, but he missed working with a team. Third time is a charm?
Chris has most recently been serving as our Sales Director. He’s poured himself into it, investing time with available consultants to learn, and has (as expected) brought much needed clarity to the role. Today he begins a new adventure, and that brings us to another topic of celebration … we have a new President at CablesAndKits!
We hope you’ll join us in congratulating Chris on his new role and welcome him as the leader of what we call the CK business unit (the product, marketing and sales channel teams). Congratulations, Chris! We are thrilled to still be on this journey with you and look forward to what is to come. Here’s to new beginnings!
Christin
Today’s Product Updates from Rebecca:
Happy Monday! I cannot believe we are already in the month of November! Finish the year strong by staying safe with our PPE gear! We have some awesome UV-C LED Sterilizer Wands on hand! These come in a variety of colors including Black, Grey, and Pink!
We also still have plenty of Non-Contact Infrared Thermometers available! These days we are taking our temperature all the time and these make it fast and convenient!
Did you also know that we have Pulse Oximeter Fingertip O2 Saturation Monitors? Keep a pulse on your oxygen levels with this handy device!
Reminder: Get free shipping on your PPE orders by using coupon code PPESHIP at checkout!
Main Safety Supplies Landing Page: https://www.cablesandkits.com/c/safety-supplies
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Today’s product spotlight features a 10G transceiver that we love! The SFP-10G-LR transceiver module was designed for long range transmission. It supports 10 Gbps data transfer rates over a distance of 10 kilometers (that’s 6.2 miles!) using singlemode fiber. This hot-swappable SFP+ transceiver is a fantastic option for satisfying connectivity needs in large data centers, enterprise wiring closets, large campuses, and more!
We offer 3 versions of this module:
- Cisco Original – Factory Sealed
- Cisco Original – Refurbished
- CK Branded (Cisco Compatible) – Factory Sealed
Decision Framework – By Gary, our Chief Administrative Officer:
If we cannot remember a principle that principle is no less potent, but we cannot leverage its power for our benefit. That is one of the reasons I love frameworks. When well-constructed a framework effectively capture complex topics in a memorable fashion.
More than 30 years ago, I ran across an exceptionally powerful and memorable decision-making framework that leverages alliteration, which is one of my favorite memory devices, and is captured in a simple 3×3 matrix. One of my posts from the recent Apollo 13 series talked about decision-making, and Craig asked me to share that framework with you.
Enough pre-ramble (as Craig likes to say). Here’s a graphical depiction of the framework followed by a description of each decision mode.
DECISION METHOD | TIME AVAILABLE | IMPORTANCE OF DECISION QUALITY OR BUY-IN
- Consensus – Unconstrained time | Buy-in vastly more important than time
- Command – Limited (or event urgent) time | Quality less important than time; Buy-in unimportant
- Consultation – Moderate time | Quality more important than time/speed
During a Consensus decision, you lay down your positional authority as the group leader and participate as an equal member of the group. Leaders choose this decision method when group buy-in is vital and there is no time pressure. A truly Consensus decision can test your patience; so it is crucial that you do not get declare an intent to achieve a consensus and later impose your will upon the group. Such acts severely undermine trust and respect. I’ve learned to you use this method sparingly. It is a rare situation where that level of buy-in truly matters AND you also have time for the dialogue necessary to achieve a consensus decision.
Command decisions are (or should be) your most frequent method. With an default right to decide for ourselves we make numerous daily Command decisions in our personal lives. In a business setting the Command mode leverages the positional authority or expertise of the leader. A command method is best where the allowable decision time is short, the decision isn’t crucial (what am I having for dinner), and/or the expertise for a quality decision is not distributed among the group. Our culture frowns upon the authoritarian nature of command decisions; so recognize that a Command decision which affects others minimizes their role to execution or even just acceptance. However, don’t shy away from Command decisions. There are situations where this method is best and any other method is sub-optimal or even leadership malpractice.
Use Consultation decisions when you want to improve the quality of a decision with information or expertise possessed by others yet do not wish to cede decision authority to the expert or the group. Sometimes this is informally asking a friend or family member for advice. In a business context vast numbers of companies (from one person practices to huge corporations like Accenture and Deloitte) exist to fill this void. There’s a time for consulting others but don’t use it to delay a tough decision or hide behind the opinions of others who often don’t have to live with the outcomes of that decision. You should also avoid the appearance of Consultation when you truly intend to make a Command decision. Others can sense this duplicity which undermines trust and respect.
A parting thought… Leadership is a lonely position, and you cannot possibly be an expert in every subject area that influences the myriad decisions you need to make. Exceptional leaders embrace the recurring reality of incomplete or even imperfect information. They understand the limits of their knowledge, they appropriately sense the available time, and consistently choose the most suitable decision mode.
News to Start Your Day With:
- Right at 46,960,300 cases worldwide, with 33,845,700 people who have recovered, with 1,206,996 deaths AND 9,476,000 cases in the US with over 6,104,400 people have recovered, with 236,501 deaths.
- British media outlets reported that Prince William caught the coronavirus this spring, around the same time that his father, Prince Charles, tested positive.
- Clorox, the household products maker, reported quarterly earnings of $3.22 per share, compared to a consensus estimate of $2.32 a share. Revenue also topped forecasts, as Clorox continued to benefit from purchases by homebound consumers amid the pandemic. Clorox had its best sales jump in over 20 years.
- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is ending a requirement for travelers from places with a high amount of coronavirus cases to quarantine for two weeks upon arriving in the state. Instead, Cuomo will require travelers to get tested for Covid-19 before traveling, and again within three days of entering the state.
- Sean Connery, most famous for his portrayal of James Bond, has died at the age of 90, his family said Saturday. The actor, who played 007 in seven movies starting with 1962’s Dr. No, died in his sleep in the Bahamas. The actor had been “unwell for some time,” his son Jason told the BBC.
- Quarantined, sick voters can go to the polls on Tuesday. Voters have the right to vote even if they are sick or under quarantine for COVID-19, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency indicated that all persons who are sick or under quarantine should inform poll workers of their condition on arrival at the polling location. They should also take the proper precautions including wearing a mask, staying at least 6 feet away from others and washing hands or using hand sanitizer before and after voting.
- There has never been a Hurricane ETA. The newest hurricane formed officially into a hurricane overnight in the Caribbean. This is 28 named storms in 2020 and 12 hurricanes in the Atlantic.