Leading Through Relationships: How to Achieve Success While Helping Others to Excel

Author

Introduction

Building

Relationships

Have you ever been with a group of people talking about an old story or a funny thing that happened that week and someone said you should write a book? That happened to me and I thought Why not? I began dictating short stories as I was driving and playing them back later.

The more I listened, the more I realized that everything I was talking about was the result of a relationship—good or not so good. As I continued to look back, I realized that my positive growth, personal and business, was due to the way I learned to interact with and form lasting relationships with people.

This book is a look back at the different positions I have held or interacted with in some way. I give credit to the success I have achieved, both personally and professionally, to my recognition of the value of promoting positive relationships with coworkers, customers, and acquaintances who came my way.

You are not going to win them all, and you may not see the fruits of your labor right away, but approaching your success goals with the idea of building positive relationships does produce the results you are searching for. I can testify that it does not take a lot of money, a college degree, or a brain the size of Einstein’s to succeed. I was lacking in all three areas but still benefitted greatly from this truth.

If you truly want to succeed in life, in business, or to accomplish whatever goal you have set for yourself, look around at the people you need to help you succeed. Name any person who is successful in your chosen field and look back at his or her history. I am positive that as you examine the steps of that person’s climb to success, you will see the relationships that helped him or her to move forward.

As you apply that understanding to your life, you can see where your relationships have pushed you forward or hampered your growth. No one has more control over your relationship with others than you do. The first person I would suggest that you build a positive relationship with is yourself. All your other relationship building after that will be much more effective.

If you read and enjoy this book, taking from the experience an increased ability to look at your own circumstances and the knowledge that you are in control and you can make a positive difference to your future, I feel I will have accomplished my goal: To help others excel in achieving their personal and business goals through positive relationship building.

Best Wishes,

The Good Mechanic

• specializes in installation of hvac equipment

• installs fuel & water supply lines, air ducts, vents, pumps, and other components

• adds or replaces duct work

• maintains own tools

• is able to work in attics & crawl spaces as needed

• uses safety equipment & follows safety procedures

• maintains a courteous and professional manner

The Better Mechanic

• produces quality workmanship

• prepares required paperwork

• works as part of a team

• acquires & maintains all needed and desired licenses

• continues learning through company sponsored training and makes use of outside sources, classes & workshops

• builds positive customer relationships

• maintains company property

The Best mechanic

• reads blueprints

• connects electrical wiring and controls and checks the unit for proper operations

• keeps current with codes for hvac installation work

• is proactive in finding ways to increase efficiency

• keeps updated on changes in the industry that may affect the way your team performs

• has leadership skills and the ability to lead your own installation group

• works well with salespeople and understands the importance of doing things right the first time

• relates well to customers and shows respects for

their property

Chapter One

Mechanic

People living in Los Angeles know that the temperature averages about 75 degrees year-round. The homeowners and the businesses in the rest of the country are not so blessed. These people rely on the services of their local, regional, or national HVAC service providers to keep their equipment running effectively and efficiently. If you think about the number of homes and businesses within driving distance of your own home, you begin to get the picture of the size of the customer base, both residential and commercial, available to a successful HVAC business. For someone thinking of making a career in the industry, these facts are very encouraging.

I have organized this book by different positions commonly found in the HVAC industry. They are positions I have held myself, worked with, or supervised. I am starting with the mechanic position because for many, it is an entry level position and one I held briefly in the early part of my career in the HVAC industry.

When I started working, I knew nothing about HVAC other than our family had central air put in our house when I was fourteen years old. At the time I finished high school, college was not an option for me, so I was advised to look into learning a trade. A friend’s mother happened to know the owner of an HVAC company and she asked him whether he would talk to me about the trade opportunities in that industry.

I got his number and called him early one morning as I had been advised and I caught him at work at 6:00 a.m. I found out later that it was a rare occurrence not to find him at work before the rooster finished crowing. He invited me to come and see him and we talked for about an hour. He told me that if I came to work for him, he would teach me enough about the HVAC trade that I would never have to worry about having a job. Although I have done some nail-biting and eaten my share of Tums, I am still here thirty-seven years later, so I guess he was right.

Getting Started

Shortly after talking with the owner, I began working at what was to be my first position on my way to becoming the vice president of the service division. I had no clue that I would spend my adult life working for this company, what people I would meet, the friends I would make, or the challenges I would face. Looking back, I am glad my friend’s mother did not live next door to the owner of a roofing company or the police commissioner. I don’t like heights and I can’t dodge bullets.

At my age, the picture of success for me as a mechanic’s helper was getting my own truck. I had been trying to stay ahead of the game and learn everything I could from all the different mechanics with whom I had worked. I looked at what they were doing differently from the other mechanics and I tried to find out why. I picked out what I thought was the best from each one, what he excelled in, and added it to my own growing skill package.

One day, the mechanic I was partnered with did not show up for work. I forget why, but it put the owner in a bind to get some work done because he had already made a commitment to the customer. Although I did not realize it at the time, this was the beginning of my moving up the ladder in my chosen career. When the owner asked me whether I could do the job, I told him I would take care of it. I wanted a chance to show him what I could do. I passed this test and continued to move forward.

Although I went from a helper to a mechanic with my own truck in nine months, I did not think of myself as a full-fledged mechanic at that time because the mechanics I worked with knew so much more than I did. They had more experience than I had because it was normal to move from a helper to a mechanic position after about three years. A lot of what they knew I was still trying to grasp.

I either had to remember what the mechanic had done the last time we did that type of job or I had to use my common sense to figure it out, which meant it took me a lot longer to do a job because I had to do it over several times before I got it right or figured out what I was doing wrong. I did know one thing for sure, though. I did not want to lose my truck. If I had to stay on the job longer because of my mistakes, I would not charge my time to the job, so on paper it worked out. The customer was pleased because the job was done right. At the time, I felt like I had been thrown to the sharks, but I did keep my truck.

Five-Year Degree

While I worked in the company’s residential installation area, my job’s main focus was replacement of old equipment, installing additional equipment, new installations, wrapping duct work, and installing attic fans and gas or oil heat furnaces. My mind-set was to learn not only how to install them but how to start up the units. At the time, the mechanics would install the new unit; then the service technicians would come and do the start-up procedure.

I wanted to be able to do both. So I started staying on the job on my own time while the technician wired up the unit and I helped him so I could learn how. I also enrolled in a technical college to help me learn the whys and the basics. Although the technicians did show me how to do things, they did not have time to teach me why. Looking at the big picture, I knew it was important to know both if you wanted to have a solid foundation to build upon.

After about two years with the residential installation group, I got the opportunity to start doing some commercial work and recognized it as another step forward for me. My take on the commercial equipment at the time was that it was just big residential work. Between commercial jobs, I continued to work in service and controls, which kept my interest growing. I worked as a mechanic for another three years. The main thing I found out from doing commercial work at that level was how to work with and read plans. I was also getting familiar with the other trades that took a part in the construction of new commercial buildings.

I thought many of these managers and supervisors would have made good officers in the armed forces (and maybe they had been) since they coordinated the activities of builders, plumbers, electricians, bricklayers, and HVAC installers, along with many other groups, all with different backgrounds and interests. They led their troops to work together as a team with the common goal of taking an idea from the drawing board and creating a building that still graces the skyline of our fair city to this day. The logistics required to accomplish this feat would have made General Norman Schwarzkopf proud. And they did all this while making a profit for their individual companies.

After about five years in the field, I became a manager. Looking back, I can see that prior to receiving that promotion, I spent the time getting my five-year degree. I admire people who have the opportunity and the tenacity to go to college, and I used to think that I had missed out because college was not in the cards for me. I may never have attended a theme party or woke up in the basement of a frat house with a king-size headache, but I definitely did not waste my time as I built a foundation of knowledge and experience that has helped me through every position I have held since that time. I will admit, though, to helping some friends empty a keg or two.

Mechanics: Hiring, Training, Coaching, Retaining

Becoming a mechanic is not just about having a mechanic’s knowledge to do the job. Personality is top on the list when interviewing job applicants because they are on the front-line dealing with customers. Are they well mannered and respectful of other people’s property? Will they get along with the other mechanics and helpers? Are they team players?

Once they get over that hurdle, then knowledge, skill, and mechanical ability is looked at. Are they creative and can they think ahead to the next step in the process? Can they work quickly? Are they handy with tools? In each step of the job, they also have to learn about building construction, and electrical and plumbing issues related to the job. They need to be on guard both in the customer’s house and outside to be sure they leave with all the tools they arrived with so they are ready to move on to the next job.

With all of the above, they still must be able to understand the mind-set that the job’s success is measured by what is billed for the time estimated for the job—the mechanic’s pay, the company’s profit margin, and the customer’s satisfaction. If the actual time varies greatly from the estimated time, less or more, something is wrong. Was the job done properly? Is the customer going to be satisfied? Is there a training issue? Was the job not quoted properly? Were the materials not available as they were scheduled to be? All these factors can make or break a job’s success. Although not all of these factors are under the mechanic’s control, he is the one who will be held accountable not only for the particular job but for making sure the kinks are worked out before the next job is scheduled.

Getting a feel for the potential mechanic’s personality, attitude, and energy is the key to a successful hire. Being able to gauge these qualities is almost an art. As a manager, I have focused on the following points during mechanics’ initial interviews. These are not listed in order of importance:

• Find out what their parents are like. Are they blue collar? Where were they raised? Do they have long-term jobs? This is important to me because I believe a job candidate will measure his success against the backdrop of what his parents have accomplished.

• If he is married, it is good to know about his wife, her parents, what she expects of him, and how her parents feel about him working in a trade instead of going to school. It is amazing how most of my high maintenance or more demanding people have problems not related directly to their work. The root of the issue that brings them to my office is usually grounded in attitude, and it is not always even the employee’s attitude.

• Many times the problem is fed by what I call a strong-minded demanding person in the employee’s personal life. I have actually had parents, wives, and girlfriends call in or meet with me about everything mentioned above. I remember once it got to the point where a mechanic’s wife was so hard to please that I asked the mechanic whether he wanted to invite his wife to the performance appraisal so I could avoid a phone call later. She never showed up after that and I stopped getting weird questions from the employee. In this case, my patience was rewarded and the employee is still with the company after twenty-five years.

Looking back, I believe that most of the time if the issues are coming from home, coaching is very hard and the employee normally caves to the grumbling and fault-finding. The employee eventually moves on to a job for which the outsider thinks he or she is best suited. Although I think the case mentioned above was an extreme, I mention it because I believe it is important to include the families in building your relationship with your employees. In an effort to do so, we came up with a very simple solution.

Including the Family

When I was brought up, you were taught not to toot your own horn. Look at your own circle of friends and acquaintances and ask yourself what you think about those whose favorite topic is how great they are. With that thought in mind, my company looked for a way for employees to let their families know they were appreciated without feeling like they were bragging. Our solution was to add an additional step to our customer praise response process.

Each time we received an exceptional praise from a customer, we sent a letter to the customer, thanking him for his kind words. A copy of this letter was put in the employee’s file. Internally, the employee was verbally given a pat on the back in recognition for exceptional work. How or if he shared that at home was on him.

Our additional step was, if the situation warranted, sending a letter to the employee and his or her family at their home address. The letter acknowledged the results of the employee’s efforts in the given situation and that he had gone beyond the call of duty. It also included praise for the family members, thanking them for their support of the employee and his contributions at work. Since this praise came in a letter