Knee Shots | Chocolate Milk | PPE Sale | Inspiration vs Motivation, pt 1
Happy Wednesday!
Welcome to the CablesAndKits CEO daily email. Read more about this email by scrolling to the very bottom.
My knee – Haiyaa. It’s worse, but I went to the ortho doc today. Fortunately they were able to fit me in. When the doctors are too busy they try to fit you in with the physician’s assistant. He was busy too so they got me in with the janitor. No real training but he’s overheard a few conversations that seemed useful.
They ordered an MRI because my pain level (an 11 on a scale of 1-10 when I try to bend it) was not normal based on his exam. They also gave me a steroid shot. Let me tell you something …. He walked in the room and said “are you ready for this?” Well, I WAS BEFORE YOU SAID THAT. Shots don’t bother me but when you’re asked if you’re ready it perks you up a little. He sprayed the area with a numbing spray and in the needle went. You know it’s going in there for sure. Then, oh boy …. then, in comes the injection of 37 gallons of liquid into a space the size of a pecan. GOOD LORD!! “Do I get a sucker??” I said gasping and wincing.
Speaking of needing a sucker, if you haven’t had a COVID test yet take a sucker with you if you go, you’ll want it when it’s over and unless they took my advice they don’t give them out. Since I sorta screamed it while honking the horn I doubt they took it to heart.
Something else noteworthy was the fact that the entire time I was going into the doctor’s office, getting X-rays, and getting examined (all but a small part) I had my Bluetooth headset in and was listening to, and sometimes participating in our weekly management meeting. WHAT A WORLD we live in that we have the technology to make this possible. Also, since our whole team works from home it’s not odd to be dialed in like that if necessary. Back when we met in person at the office having one person dial in would be strange. This new way of working certainly has some benefits.
I don’t know if it’s true, but I heard …
7% of American adults believe that chocolate milk comes from brown cows.
Today’s Product Spotlight from Rerun (AKA Rebecca):
Happy Wednesday everyone! Today we’re taking a look at our 4 Post Rack Mount Adjustable Rails! These 1RU adjustable rack mount rails are made from 14 gauge powder-coated steel and are adjustable from 20.25” to 33.25”. These universal rails offer simplicity and versatility to get the devices you need mounted in the rack quickly and safely! They can be installed in any 19”, 23” or 30” four-post rack and hold up to 200 lbs! These rails come with (4) 10-32 and (4) 12-25 rack screws so that you can install straight out of the box!
The Rerun & Joe Show! (Updates about Safety Supplies Product Line):
Rerun here again! We’ve been talking a lot about the sales we have going on for our Safety Supply products and I want to point your attention to several of the hottest products that we have on deep discount right now! Stock up before cold and flu season so that you won’t be without these vital products!
Clorox Bleach Germicidal Healthcare Spray, 32 oz – $15.00
Clorox Disinfecting Wipes, Flex Pack, 75 Count – $14.75
3-Ply Protective Face Mask, 50 Pack – $7.95
It’s an Inspiration. Why You Cannot Motivate Anyone. – by Gary Epp, Chief Administrative Steward
Present day culture often confuses motivation and inspiration, and this confusion spills over into the business environment. However, it is not an issue of motivation OR inspiration. Rather, great business leaders know that exceptional business results require both motivation AND inspiration and, equally important, they understand the different origins of motivation and inspiration.
How often have you heard some variation of the following phrase, “We need to figure out how to motivate [insert the name of a team member, customer, supplier, etc].” In reality, it is impossible to motivate someone else to do anything. Why? Motivation is an internal driver. A wide range of factors motivate us. Some of those factors involve basic physical needs—food, clothing and shelter. Other drivers arise from our spirit. Some desires of the heart appear almost universally—gaining the respect of others, feeling loved, and aspiring for significance. Yet, other desires of the heart come from inherent character traits and vary from person to person. For example, crowds energize some of us and drain others. Lastly, spiritual drivers flowing from an intentional commitment to certain values inform and guide our behaviors—caring for the defenseless among us, beliefs about an afterlife, or the importance of learning.
Inspiration, on the other hand, involves an external animating force that draws out behaviors. Inspiration is the province of leaders who seek to influence the behavior of others. Inspiration seeks voluntary cooperation not compulsory compliance.
What inferences and behavioral implications might we draw from these differences between motivation and inspiration:
- Effective inspiration requires caring and curiosity. It’s not about me. Skillful inspiration is very others-centered and requires cultivating a curiosity about what drives others.
- Effective inspiration requires the expenditure of energy. If we hope to inspire others, we must often provide an input to produce the action we seek. We find in field of chemistry a complementary analogy where two substances require the presence of a separate catalyst to create the desired chemical reaction.
- Inspiration cannot impose or inject from the outside an idea foreign or repulsive to an individual. We call that coercion. Rather, inspiration is about discovering and drawing out motivations already resident within the other person.
- We can inspire through leadership, but if motivations arise internally, we must seek and hire people motivated by factors suitable for our team or business. Hiring for motivation requires that the organization explicitly understands its own drivers since you cannot hope to find what you cannot describe.
Part 2, which will be in tomorrow’s email, converts these implications into 15 actionable methods that can inspire ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things.
We’re Hiring for our Product Department! We have an opening, as detailed by Rerun (AKA Rebecca), below. Is this you or someone you know?
Product Marketing Specialist – Fiber Cables
Have you been reading these CEO emails thinking “Wow, CK sure sounds like a fun place to work! Wish I could be a part of the team and contribute to the CEO daily email like Joe the friendly Safety Supplies Product Marketer does!”? Do you love product marketing? Do you revel in the recurring nature of processes and relish accountability? If so, listen up! We are looking to expand our Product Team by bringing on a Product Marketer for Fiber Cables. This is a very process driven role in which the goal is to grow Gross Profit $ and increase inventory effectiveness by effectively marketing the products. We are looking for someone who is exactly like Joe… err… I mean, we are looking for someone who is hard-working, dedicated, diligent, organized, analytical, a great written communicator, and has a GREAT attitude and “can do” spirit! If you are still intrigued, please review the job post (and pay extra attention to the part about the CK Way – We take culture seriously here and are looking for team members who truly “fit”). If you think you do fit and are interested in the position, please send us your resume at [email protected] along with a written note telling us the character attributes, values, and interests that describe you and influence how you approach life and work. Who knows, you could be our next friendly Product Marketer!
I hope you are enjoying these emails. If you are, I appreciate it when you let me know! If not, or if you have ideas for how to improve, by all means, please let me know! Sometimes I “can’t see the forest for the trees”.
As always, please let me know how I can be of service to you. If you need assistance with something, advice, or even if you just need someone to pray for you, I am here and listening.
Blessings,
Craig Haynie – CEO
CablesAndKits
P.S. Don’t forget to go follow us on Facebook here: CK Facebook Page.
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Tech / Business News to Start Your Day With:
- Right at 31,830,700 cases worldwide, with 23,431,800 people who have recovered, with 976,363 deaths AND 7,098,300 cases in the US with over 4,347,200 people have recovered, with 205,491 deaths.
- Paris’s Eiffel Tower has been evacuated this morning, a spokesman for the company operating it told Reuters, confirming a security source report. The company declined to comment on why the tower had been evacuated and could not confirm whether there had been a bomb threat, as some media reported. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to spell out a new standard for an emergency authorization of a coronavirus vaccine that will make it exceedingly difficult for any vaccine to be cleared before Election Day.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning that traditional trick-or-treating, where children go from door to door, is not advisable this year.
- The House passed a funding bill to avoid a government shutdown, sending the legislation to the Senate ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline. Democrats and the Trump administration earlier reached a spending deal, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. Pelosi said the agreement included nutritional assistance for schoolchildren and additional accountability for farm aid.
- Johnson & Johnson is the fourth drugmaker backed by the Trump administration’s Covid-19 vaccine program Operation Warp Speed to enter late-stage testing. The trial will enroll up to 60,000 volunteers across 215 locations in the U.S. and other countries, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
- The Uncle Ben’s rice brand is getting a new name: Ben’s Original. Parent firm Mars Inc. unveiled the change Wednesday for the 70-year-old brand, the latest company to drop a logo criticized as a racial stereotype. Packaging with the new name will hit stores next year.
