THINGS YOU WILL NOT LEARN IN SCHOOL

by Bill Gates

• 1. Life is not fair -- get used to it!
• 2. The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
• 3. You will not make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
• 4. If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
• 5. Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping -- they called it opportunity.
• 6. If you mess up, it's not your parent's fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
• 7. Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
• 8. Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools they have abolished failing grades, and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
• 9. Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
• 10. Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
• 11. Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

THE 3 SECRETS TO SUCCEEDING IN THE WORK PLACE

1. SHOW UP
2. SHOW UP, ON TIME
3. SHOW UP, ON TIME, AND READY TO WORK

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THIS IS A STORY ABOUT FOUR PEOPLE NAMED...EVERYBODY, SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, & NOBODY

There was an important customer service job to be done at the pool and Everybody was asked to do it, but Nobody did. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it but Nobody realized that Everybody would not do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

THE MORAL OF THE STORY IS...
At GHPM, no one should ever utter the words, "It's not my job." That phrase simply does not exist here. Everyone is expected to pitch in, do whatever it takes to get the job done, and achieve total customer satisfaction.

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YOU ARE THE "KEY" TO QUALITY

Xvxn though my typxwrixr is an old modxl, it works prxtty wxll xxcxpt for onx kxy. It's trux that thxrx arx 41 kxys that function wxll xnough, but just onx kxy makxs thx diffxrxncx in quality.

Thxrx arx timxs whxn an organization is somxwhat likx my typxwritxr - not xvxry pxrson is doing thxir sharx. You may say to yoursxlf "What's thx big dxal? I don't makx or brxak my organization. Thxy can gxt it donx without mx."

You do makx a diffxrxncx. Xvxry organization nxxds activx participation by all txam mxmbxrs. So thx nxxt timx you think your xfforts arxn't nxxdxd, just rxmxmbxr my typxwritxr and say to yoursxlf:

"I am the key person in this organization and I am needed very much. I am the KEY to quaility".

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WHAT IS CHARACTER?

People talk a lot about character - about having it and building it. But what exactly is good character? Perhaps the best way to define this quality is to consider the traits that comprise it...

Empathy Helpful Fairness Tolerance Caring

Courage Humor Respect Loyalty Courtesy

Patience Resourcefulness Peacemaking Self-reliance Self-motivation

Responsibility Honesty Trustworthiness Self-discipline Cooperation

Do you have these traits of "character"?
If so...you will not only be successful as a GHPM Lifeguard, you will be successful in life.

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WHAT IS PERCEPTION?

What a customer or guest "believes to be true" is true, for them, because they formulate their feelings before they have all the facts. Let us look at the situation of Gavin. Gavin seems to be the perfect lifeguard. He keeps the water balanced, the pool clean, the trash picked up, and the bathrooms clean. He uses the lifeguard stand when he is guarding. He enforces the pool's rules, but also talks on the phone during breaks. Now, Gavin seems to be doing his job, but the perception from the customer's point at view is that he talking on the phone. This story is not uncommon and the point is clear: How you are perceived is just as important as important as how you do your job. THINK about Gavin when you want to talk on the phone, or sit in a lounge chair at poolside, play in the pool with kids, or look away when people are swimming. These attitudes do not promote you as a professional. Perception is reality when you are dealing with customers!

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Until next time,

Your Leader