Bruce Outridge
Artist | Author | Radio & Podcast Producer | Television Host
Owning Your Success by Playing by the Rules
Have you ever watched the careers of different individuals and wondered why some succeed and are profitable and others always seem to be struggling? I see it over and over again in my travels and always wonder what makes some people tick and others lose out. Now there is two mindsets to this thought process; some say it doesn’t matter how you finish as long as you finish first, and others say it is best to finish second and ethically than to be first through cheating. I agree with the second thought process. Here is why, most criminals get caught sooner or later, and those types of people spend too much energy trying to beat the system rather than working within it. Now this article is not about becoming a criminal, but about steering your career by abiding by the rules of engagement. Let me share a story with you and you may recognize a person like this on your team. Now this story is based in the transportation industry but you can find similar examples in almost any industry. By the way I have changed the names to protect the guilty.
Let’s call this person Jack, he has been driving truck his whole life. He learned to drive from his father and the family has a long list of truck drivers in it. He was taught early on that the most important part of creating money as a truck driver is to put in as many miles as you can, no matter how you do it drive those miles under your belt. Jack succeeded at that and companies loved him because he would do anything they asked, run around the scale, driver over the allowable hours, and take heavy loads whenever asked. With that attitude it was no problem to get jobs and he always seemed to be working. There was one problem however; he didn’t care about his career. As long as he was making money he didn’t give another thought as to how to proceed to the next step. Due to his non caring attitude jack did a lot of damage to equipment, refused to go that extra mile by keep his truck clean and would eventually be fired. He only had one goal and that was to get on with a good company that paid well and even though he bounced around companies he finally got that chance and ended up with a great company. The problem was that the mindset he had created early on never left him and while trying to make that extra dollar again he ended up rolling the truck. He made it out alive however; he has a hard time finding decent companies to work for and will never find that gold mind that he once worked at again.
Now Tom on the other hand did not come from a long line of truck drivers, but a line of accountants. He started at the bottom of the industry moving furniture and gradually through hard work, passion for his positions, and putting extra effort into his career, moved up the ladder getting experience in various industries within the transportation sector. In the long run he made better money than his counterpart Jack by abiding by company rules, putting in extra effort, and looking for opportunities to do what he loves to do. How did he make more money than Jack you ask? He worked for better companies that paid more per mile, he achieved higher positions that paid in various ways such as salary or percentage that created more income than by the mile, and he kept his record clean giving him a good name in the industry. He has since gone onto other avenues and opportunities within the transportation industry.
Now I tell you that story so that you will look hard at your career in the past, present, and future to decide if it is taking you on the path you had hoped it would. Part of the reason people go down the wrong path is due to the fact that they listen to the wrong people regarding their career. I myself was told over thirty years ago not to get into the industry because you couldn’t make any money in it. Thank the Lord I didn’t listen to that guy or I would still be pumping gas at the local gas station. Owning your success is about believing in your own ways of doing things that make you unique while abiding by the rules and regulations of your industry. Sometimes money grows on trees so think of your career as the trunk and branches.
About the Author
Bruce Outridge is a business and leadership consultant with a strong background in the transportation industry. You can view more information on Bruce by visiting his website at http://www.outridge.ca
Are you leading by example?
Think hard about that question, are you leading by example? There is a thin line between walking the talk and walking the walk once you are in a supervisory position. Sometimes for new supervisors the position can go to their heads to the point that they manage themselves right out of a job. Now there are many schools of thought on this and they can all be right or wrong depending on the circumstances of the particular situation. In general however, you should be trying to lead by example and walking the walk. Now when I say the walk I am not talking about doing the job of your team, but doing your own job. Your job is managing your team, helping them solve performance problems, operational problems, and supporting them through training and advice. Where I see many supervisors missing the boat is in the support area. Think about it, when there is a performance issue your on top of it, when there is a problem with equipment your on it and have it fixed. What about support issues? What is happening when things are going good? How are you addressing training issues and supporting your team? Most supervisors wait until there is a problem and then start looking for training to fix the problem. At that point it is too late; you are working in emergency mode trying to put out the fires. When you should be looking for training is when things are going good and you want to improve your team. Doing it the other way is like showing up to the fire, and then having to search for a water source, by the time you find it you’re house is already burned down. By focusing on improvement you are looking for a water source at the fire station before the fire alarm goes off. Think about that scenario and now think about your team, where do you need to improve?
It may be that your team is running along fine, so it may be an issue of cross training people to make sure positions are covered should there be an illness. By cross training a person they can let go of some old habits, learns some new skills, and it makes your business more flexible should there be problems down the road. You may even find a diamond in the rough that better suits a position that you had not thought about. Entrepreneurs and quality team leaders are always looking for ways to make an operation better and not everything needs to cost an arm and a leg.
If you’re not sure of the interests of the people of your team then it’s time to have some interviews to review performance, goals, etc. To me training should be goal oriented. If you’re waiting for a problem to happen before you start training them something is wrong. Think preventative, there is a reason police and fireman are trained before they start work and not after. So how do you lead by example in this area, look to improve team performance before problems start? Suggest ways to improve the team and ask for input from the team members when no problems are apparent and you will find everyone will be more focused therefore making your business more efficient, focused, and profitable.
About the Author
Bruce Outridge is a leadership and business consultant specializing in the transportation industry. You can view information, programs, and services on his website at http://www.outridge.ca
Do I need customer service as an owner operator?
Most drivers and owner operators forget the importance of customer service because they don’t feel that they have to deal with the clients directly. They are very wrong and in a big way. If you are an owner operator have you thought about who your clients are in reality? Doing this exercise may surprise you if you take it seriously. So let’s look at how you affect the clients while conducting deliveries and communicating with clients. If you run the open board you may not concern yourself with customer service because many drivers don’t think they will return to that client unless they are on dedicated run. The truth is that any client that ships or receives goods with the company by truck deserves the best customer service available from every driver. In the industry we hear about customer service departments, business executives, and don’t see how we are involved in the important aspects of the client but the truth is that each customer has a number of points of contact that the company will be in contact with them. So what are those points?
Usually for any large contracts the top executives or appointed sales force will be involved and that will be the first point and most important in the beginning. That will be the point where all of the negotiations will take place to secure the customer’s freight contract. Once that point is completed it will diminish in contact to a point, but is still a critical point in the process. The next point will be the transport company internal client service department, such as customer service, order management, and so on. This point of contact is also critical and may or may not be in direct contact with the client depending on the order management system. This second point may also be done by a third party such as a load broker or load board service, but is still critical to great client service. The next point is you, the driver and may be the most critical point of all for the company. You are the live person dealing with another live person and basically could be the face of the company. Whether you are dealing with a receiver on the dock, a shipper in the yard, or phoning the front office for directions you are the face of the company and should be representing them as such. How you dress, the way you talk, and the ways you act are all important to how the client views your company. Are you pleasant to be around, are you patient when waiting for the load, is your trailer organized and clean? Or are you the opposite, have a filthy trailer, you haven’t showered in a few days, and are tired and grumpy, just a picture of professionalism to be sarcastic. Everyone has a part to play and you need to do yours.
About the Author
Bruce Outridge is a leadership and business consultant specializing in the transportation industry. He can be reached at http://www.outridge.ca
Patience is a virtue, do you have any?
If you read my post from last week you will see the 12 steps of professionalism that I think are important to becoming a professional driver. The steps also relate to anyone dealing with customers, coworkers, etc. Life on the road can be downright stressful to say the least, people who can’t drive or delays at companies, busy city centres and the like. Patience is critical to survival in the transportation industry. I am not sure who told certain drivers that if you yell, scream, and jump up and down you will get loaded faster, but that is common place on many docks across the country. So how do you handle the pressure of a delay?
First know what your policy is for delays. If you’re a driver do you know at what point your company starts to charge clients for delays? At what point is a co-worker, not replying back to a project detail causing your productivity to suffer? Most of us hound someone to get the results desired, but that doesn’t help team spirit, work relationships, or get that task finished to the standards required. First take a deep breath and remain calm. Educate the person on the importance of completing the task and that at a certain point the company will start charging for the delay. If that doesn’t start moving things any faster send them another reminder and inform your supervisor of the delay and the former discussion with the person involved. After that keep an eye on your time, move on with another project and make sure you note when the task was completed so you can inform your supervisor. Make sure to take down details of the person involved or department and any other particulars. Now I must stress that you don’t get hostile during this process, but keep your cool and explain that you have a job to do. The reason that it is important to document the situation is to give the company back up in order to either fix the delay or get compensated for the delay. I hear a lot of people complain about delays, but when you ask them specifics of the delay they can’t remember. Better yet is they complain to the boss but don’t have any particulars to back up their claim. If that’s the case it may as well not even happened. When I am managing projects from clients I mark down dates that they reply. It helps me gauge length of times for project estimates, but more important is when they come back to tell me the project took too long I can pull out a file showing the approval process and how long it took them to reply and so on.
Don’t let your productivity suffer because of someone else’s situation. Take ownership of your position.
About the Author
Bruce Outridge is a leadership consultant specializing in the transportation industry. More information on Bruce can be found at http://www.outridge.ca
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