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Success
for me is not defined by reaching a certain financial or social goal. I
guess those things can be nice but that is not my aim. For me success is
about generating wonderful memories. For example, by this definition, a
successful vacation is defined as one that creates wonderful memories.
Knowing this, before I go on vacation, I try to determine beforehand what
kinds of situations I will encounter. Then I try to consider how I should
react to them so that I will create a good memory. Hopefully by
approaching many experiences this way, I will be "successful" in
creating great memories.
Basically what I
want to
discuss here is not manufacturing methods but the more human side of
business with regard to personal success, motivation, and satisfaction. I
truly believe this to be as valuable as discussions about best use of
time, where to get materials, or jig design. Because some of these
concepts are "soft" in nature (intangible and related to
personal behavior), you may not completely buy in to them. That’s fine;
but with the emotional roller coaster that many of us ride in the
instrument building business, I hope to spur some productive thought.
For discussion purposes I
want to focus on seven interdependent and important behaviors that, while
impossible to fully achieve, are truly worth striving for. They are integrity,
winning attitude, initiative, discipline/balance, focus,
leadership and long-term thinking.
- Integrity. When all of our efforts, actions, responses and thoughts are in
harmony and in good faith, we have integrity. By "in good
faith," I mean trustworthy and holding to normally accepted
principles of uprightness. Some folks call this "walking our
talk." The term "values" is probably in the news more
often than we want to hear it these days. I have heard folks say that
people do not have values anymore. I disagree. All people value some
things more highly than other things. But we value different things
based upon our past and present hopes, fears, beliefs and
accountability factors. I’ll take a risk here and suggest that what
people do not often do is consciously evaluate what we value
and make an effort to discard those values that lack virtue.
Integrity is imperative
if we are to be a success in any facet of life, especially with regard
to being at peace with one’s self. For me, peace with myself comes
from "cleaning out my closet" every so often. This requires
focused soul searching.
Try this exercise
sometime. Sit down and write out the ten or so things that are of the
most value to you in life; then accept or reject their worthiness based
upon the character and legacy you want to leave with your children. A
second check step, if you really have thick skin, is to show the list to
someone who really cares for you, and who knows you well, and ask for
honest feedback. I promise it will be a painful exercise, but it will
also be good medicine.
- Winning
Attitude. The old adage, "when the going gets
tough, the tough get going" is worth its weight in gold when
faced with hardship or uncertainty. I am aware that this is a little
idealistic. I remember when I built my first guitar. I made a lot of
goofs. I remember early on in the process, I would try to look at the
goofs as "just a new challenge" to learn from. Boy, after
about ten goofs, I didn’t want anymore darn challenges, and I was
really tired of learning.
It is said that when
painful things happen to people, we go through a series of stages. The
most commonly discussed of these are the five stages of grief –
denial/anger/bargaining/depression/acceptance. It is very difficult for
most people to fully control their behavior during the denial and anger
stages of the cycle. During these two stages, we sometimes do and say
things that cause us much regret later. I guess that’s why we are
warned to count to ten before reacting to those situations! I am
sometimes disappointed with items that I mail order. I have found that
rather than immediately rushing to the phone while the adrenalin is
still pumping through my body, I react best if I wait a day or two
before calling my supplier about it.
Every situation that
invokes tribulation has a positive spin – "the silver
lining." Note this rule: How we react to a bad situation always
sets off a series of consequences that will either help or hurt us and
others later.
What about when good
things happen? The same rule applies. Humility and sharing of the
victory are important here. We must sincerely lift up the folks who
helped us win. We know that pride always comes before a fall – and
there will be more hard times down the road.
Both good and bad
situations provide so many opportunities! Humans do their most profound
learning during times of joy, trial, and error. These are our defining
moments in life. By defining moments, I mean times when we must make
tough decisions, and in doing so, decide – Do I want to stand on my
principles or depart from them? With each decision, we define, re-define
or refine ourselves, either positively or negatively, in our own eyes
and in the eyes of others.
- Initiative.
Follow through. Keeping promises. Exceeding customer expectations!
Like "Radar" O'Reilly – completing the order before
the order is given.
One of the most valuable
statements I have ever heard is this, "There are no traffic jams on
the extra mile." Think about it for a moment!
We have all been milked
for information from time to time, only to find out that the buyer took
our advice but spent his/her money elsewhere. That is frustrating, and
it results in the temptation to limit our sharing. Consider though that,
for the most part, customers and dealers must become confident in us
before they will become confident in our instruments. Instruments
sometimes sell themselves, but personal initiative is the key to winning
confidence. We are on the "extra mile" when we give
extraordinary time and effort to others. Our patience and dependability
will be noted and appreciated.
A word about quality
here: A disciplined approach to the continual improvement of our
products is imperative in business. A point of interest to consider is
that the cost of higher quality can be less than most people think. Many
savings come as a result of having the initiative and discipline to push
the upper limits of quality. Higher quality products are produced with
leaner, more accurate processes. These processes are less costly because
they produce less waste and rework. A quality product results in less
warranty returns, more pride in workmanship, higher customer
satisfaction, more word-of-mouth advertising, and more sales.
- Discipline/Balance.
Using time and resources wisely. Constant assessment of how we use and
balance our time and resources, not only in our work, but with our
family and recreation time, is essential if we are to be successful.
I recently heard about a
painting of an old barn in a dark snowstorm. In the picture, a man was
making his way through the deep snow. Behind him was a small boy
struggling to follow. The caption read, "Be careful where you walk,
Daddy. I’m stepping in the holes."
Discipline in our
actions and discipline with our use of personal and family resources
will most certainly make or break most every endeavor, including
marriages and businesses. Perceptions that score our professional
discipline will be drawn from observations of our character,
cleanliness, language, ability to keep confidences, and how we express
our opinions about our business competition.
- Focus.
Focus could be determining what types of instruments a builder will
and will not build, or deciding which market to go after. A way to do
this is to develop a mission statement that defines what the company
will do and who it will do it for. In the process it will define what
the mission is not. This awareness will keep a business on
track and off tangents. I have found that a parallel statement can be
made about defining what I perceive as my personal mission in life.
I believe that every
business, no matter how small, needs a strategic plan. It need not be an
extravagant document, but it should be written down. It should include a
realistic vision of where the business should be in the next three
years. It should have measurable goals. Areas that are critical to
business success should be listed. A prioritized plan of action for
realizing the vision must be developed for each of these key areas. The
plan should be revisited often to check progress or work around
roadblocks. Focused planning will actually save money, reduce wasted
effort, help prioritize expenditures, and provide growth options. With a
vision you remain in charge of your circumstances. Your focus will be
sharper and your temptation to stray into wasteful efforts or try to
grow too quickly is held at bay. Finally, you have time to research,
learn and plan further before making key decisions.
- Leadership.
There are many great books on leadership so I’ll try to keep this
section short. All people are required to lead in some aspect from
time to time. It may be in a formal position or just making decisions
for the family. Here are a few thoughts about leadership. This is
certainly not meant to be an inclusive list:
- A leader must be
prepared – remember the Boy Scout slogan.
- To be a leader
people must be following, preferably because they want to rather
than being forced to do so. If I look around and no one is
following, am I a leader or am I lost?
- To be a leader
there must be a destination (a quest). Leaders take people places;
otherwise, they are just wandering.
- A leader must
exemplify the standard.
Many businesses aspire
to lead their industry. With leadership comes the responsibility of
meeting certain standards of integrity that peers, related industry, and
customers are comfortable with. We can all certainly do our part to
encourage one another, share learnings, grow the industry, mentor the
new folks, follow our appointed leaders, set professional standards, and
build consumer confidence. If we each quietly and confidently walk at a
higher level, others will follow. Our customers will respect us, and our
children will emulate us!
- Long-term Thinking. With every aspect of personal and business
growth, we must "think long-term." Everything we do
with regard to the quality and consistency of our work, and the other
six behaviors listed here, will impact us in the long term. It can
sometimes be very tempting to take short cuts or use alternative
materials to avoid rework costs in hopes that a customer would not
notice a defect. This is short-term thinking. It can happen when we
are faced with something as straightforward as compensating for a
mistake on a guitar, or when we are tempted with a far-reaching
opportunity that we should not take.
Long-term thinking
provides guidance for short-term decisions, and it consistently improves
the quality of business processes and products. Long-term thinking
ensures great relationships with suppliers, customers, peers, and
family. It imparts confidence no matter what the outcome.
With regard to the seven
items above, I must relate that I in no way believe that I have
"arrived." I have my difficulties with each of them. Their
interdependence ensures that if one is done well, the others will be
better too. Consequently, for each done poorly, they all suffer.
As we get older we will
talk about new pains and laugh about old memories. Personal peace and
success will be measured by the joyful memories of our journey. They are
manifested by our confidence as we pass our learnings to the next
generation. Our personal legacy will be based upon memories of how we
treated others. This might be something to ponder upon when we look at the
name on the headstock of our instruments.
Copyright
© June 2001 "A.S.I.A., the Association of Stringed Instrument
Artisans
About the author: Gerald
Sheppard began working as a management consultant specializing in areas of
strategic planning, personal motivation, and quality management in
1989. After several years of casual guitar repair and refinishing, he
started building guitars exclusively in 1993. Today he is the owner of
Gerald Sheppard Guitars.
About The
Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans (A.S.I.A.). A.S.I.A. is a
non-profit trade organization. Established in 1988, its purpose is to
provide a sense of community and professionalism to the field of stringed
instrument making and repair. The goals of the association provide for,
buy are not limited to, the establishment of a comprehensive database of
resources, supplies, and technical information, a means of providing
multi-level education within the profession, assistance in marketing and
promotion, and the publication of information newsletters and journals. See the A.S.I.A. website at
www.guitarmaker.org
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