During the recession that struck
in the early 1990s, David
Graebel was founder and CEO
of Graebel Worldwide Movers.
Beginning with a single used truck in
Wausau, Wisconsin, he and his wife,
Lois, built one of the largest moving
and storage companies in the world.
However, in 1990, one of his biggest
clients was forced into bankruptcy and
left the Graebel Company holding an
unpaid bill for $1.8 million. It wasn't
long before gloom and doom spread
through all the branch offices, and
David felt he had to do something
quickly. He decided to call all the
regional sales managers in from the
field to a conference at headquarters.
Here was his approach: "The first
thing I did was get them all in a room,
stride to the front, turn around and
exclaim: 'Isn't this fantastic!' "
Several of his employees thought
their boss was in complete denial. On
the one hand, his company faced a loss
of nearly 2 million dollars, but on the
other, he was excitedly saying, "Isn't
this fantastic!" In spite of their obvious
confusion, David Graebel explained
the reason for his optimism: "In just a
few short years ... (we have gone) from
one used truck and one driver to the
size where a single customer can hit us
with a loss of nearly 2 million dollars,
and yet we are still in business the next
day. In fact, we can afford to fly all of
you in so we can sit down and figure
out how we can get enough business to
cover that loss." Because of his positive
attitude, the managers of the Graebel
Worldwide Movers found more business,
not just to cover the loss, but
enough to make 1991 its best year ever.
The lesson from David Graebel's
experience is this important one: The
world's greatest force is the power of
choice. While we may not always
have control over events and issues
that come tumbling into our lives, we
always have the power to choose our
response. No matter how troubling or
tragic the circumstances that fall upon
us and no matter how much they
diminish our options, we are always
left with the power to choose our attitude.
Educator and author Leo
Buscaglia stresses the importance of
our power to choose this way: "It's
time people tell you you're not at the
mercy of forces greater than yourself.
You are, indeed, the greatest force for
you." The courage to choose wisely
demonstrates that we are living a
proactive, well-thought-out life rather
than simply living a reactionary life.
Choose Rising Up After
Falling Down
Here are two contrasting quotes to
seriously consider. The legendary football
coach Paul "Bear" Bryant observed:
"The first time you quit, it's hard. The
second time, it gets easier. The third
time, you don't even have to think
about it." The other quote is from
writer Minna Thomas Antrim who
makes this observation: "Three failures
denote uncommon strength. A weakling
has not enough grit to fail thrice."
After experiencing a failure or falling,
ask yourself these kinds of questions:
- Do I want to be a quitter or an
overcomer?
- Do I want to be defeated or
victorious?
- Do I want to descend or ascend?
- Ultimately, do I want to be tragic
or triumphant?
The way to be one who overcomes,
to be one who is victorious, to be one
who ascends, and, ultimately, to be
one who is triumphant lies in your
power of choice. Choose to rise up
after every falling down.
Choose Integrity over
Compromise
"Hold yourself responsible for a
higher standard than anyone else
expects of you. Never excuse yourself,"
said the 19th century cleric and
newspaper editor Henry Ward
Beecher. In matters of principle, be the
kind of person who stands firm, like a
rock.
One of the most popular and amazing
small aircraft is the Lear Jet. It was
created by Bill Lear, who was an
inventor, aviator, and business leader.
Lear held more than 150 patents,
including those for the automatic
pilot, car radio, and the eight-track
tape (You can't win them all!).
In the 1950s, he sensed the need
and potential for a small corporate jet.
It took him several years to turn his
dream into reality, but in 1963, the
first Lear Jet made its maiden voyage,
and in 1964, he delivered his first jet
to a client. Bill Lear's success was
immediate and rapid as he quickly
sold many aircraft.
However, not long after he got his
start, Lear learned that two of his jets
crashed under mysterious circumstances.
He was devastated. At the
time 55 Lear Jets were privately
owned, and Lear immediately sent
word to all the owners to ground their
planes until he could determine what
caused the crashes. The thought that
more lives might be lost was far more
important to him than any adverse
publicity that would result from his
action. As he researched the ill-fated
flights, Lear concluded he knew a
potential cause but could not verify
the technical problem on the ground.
There was only one way to know
whether he had diagnosed the problem
correctly and that was to re-create
it personally — in the air.
This was, of course, a very dangerous
proposal, but that's what Bill Lear
did. As he flew the jet, he nearly lost
control and almost met the same fate
as the other two pilots. He managed to
make it through the tests and was able
to verify the defect. Lear developed a
new part to correct the problem and
fitted all 55 planes with it, eliminating
the danger.
Think about the integrity it took for
Bill Lear to follow that course of
action. Grounding the planes cost him
a lot of money. Further, it planted
seeds of doubt in the minds of future
customers. As a result, he needed two
years to rebuild his business. Yet, he
never regretted his decision. He was
willing to risk his success, his fortune,
and even his life to solve the mystery
of those crashes, but he was not willing
to risk his integrity. Be like Bill
Lear: Demand integrity from yourself.
Choose Perseverance
After several years of trying to persuade
grocers to carry his new brand
of popcorn called Red Bow, the creator
was deeply discouraged. "Was I, at the
age of 63, pursuing a foolish dream?"
he wondered as he drove gloomily
back to his Valparaiso, Indiana, office.
Were his many years of researching,
cultivating, and perfecting the new,
better popping corn leading him to a
marketing dead-end, he wondered.
Whenever he approached a retailer,
the comments were always the same:
"There are over 80 different brands of
popcorn on the market. We don't have
room for another, especially when it
costs 2 1/2 times as much."
Although every response from
retailers to his new product was disheartening,
the man decided to try yet
another approach. He consulted a
Chicago marketing firm that recommended
the product be marketed as
Orville Redenbacher's Gourmet
Popping Corn, featuring his picture on
the label. "I drove back to Valparaiso
wryly thinking we had paid $13,000
(equivalent to $65,000 today) for
someone to come up with the same
name my mother had come up with
when I was born," Redenbacher recalls
thinking that day in 1970.
Still uncertain about their advice,
Redenbacher decided to test-market
their idea. He approached the largest
retailer in the Midwest, Marshall
Field's Department Store in Chicago.
After learning the name of the manager
of their seventh-floor gourmet food
department, Redenbacher sent him a
case of the newly labeled product to
his home. Redenbacher did not
enclose a note or return address. A
month later he phoned asking, "Did
you like it?"
"Like it?" the manager responded.
"We want to stock it!"
Excited by his first order,
Redenbacher loaded it into his pickup
truck and drove it in to Chicago, personally
delivering it to Marshall
Field's huge State and Randolph Street
store. As an additional marketing ploy,
he offered to autograph jars of the popcorn.
Marshall Field's executives liked
the idea and began heavily promoting
the popcorn in newspaper ads.
Redenbacher spent three full days getting
writer's cramp.
Today Orville Redenbacher's product
is the bestselling popcorn in the
world. However, his success began as
he was reaching the age when most
people think about retiring. Although
he could be called a late bloomer,
Orville Redenbacher and many others
like him are living proof that it's never
too late to start an adventure.
There are, of course, many other
important choices for us to make as we
journey through life. But, the important
thing is that we are intentional
and self-directed in our choices rather
than simply being people who drift
with the flow.
Victor M. Parachin is an ordained
minister, freelance journalist, and
author of several books. Learn more
about Victor M. Parachin.