Two construction workers served soup and it changed the world

When two construction workers came into the Panera in Brookside (near Kansas City) for their lunch break January 30, 2017, little did they know they would change the world.

Panera was crowded at 12:30pm as usual, and the two men sat at a small circle table in the middle of the dining room. Their clothing and speed at which they ate indicated they were in the middle of a job and did not intend to take a leisurely lunch break. As they finished their lunches, they noticed a woman in a booth along the side of the room near their table.

The woman was tired, disheveled, and had a recently stitched injury on her face. She was alone in the booth and had leaned her head back to rest. Her table had a backpack and papers but no tray of food.

The woman raised her head as the two men were clearing their table. Although they had a project waiting, they approached her to ask if she were okay or if she needed anything. Their eyes and tone of voice showed genuine concern for the stranger who sat alone among the chatting customers.

The lady's response to their inquiry sent the men into action. One of the men served a glass of ice water with a lemon while the other retrieved a bowl of potato soup from the counter and delivered it to her. Then, in a heartfelt demonstration of genuine concern and compassion, they joined her while she ate her soup. One pulled up a chair and sat across from her but close to her table. The other man stood nearby, as both respected her space and gently walked the fine line between care and intrusion.

The men introduced themselves as Nathan and Chris. The woman said her name was Linda.

In the midst of the noisy, bustling restaurant, the three bonded for a few moments. The men did not pry, and Linda did not offer details of her situation. After about five minutes, the men bid Linda farewell so they could return to their job site on time.

Linda ate her soup and stayed in the booth for at least another hour.

A colleague and I were meeting in a booth near Linda. We had both noticed her upon our arrival, but her eyes were closed so we did not engage with her. As we watched the scene unfold, we talked about how good people are willing, even eager, to help those in need.

It was refreshing to see people help a stranger, and it was just as inspiring that she graciously accepted their help. That's what living and leading All-In is all about, as you know if you are reading this. All-In strategy number three is Notice Others. The men noticed someone in need and they cared. And she let them.

As they left and crossed the street, I noticed one of the men walked with a limp. He never told his story. He just ate his lunch, cared for a stranger, crossed the street, walked around the corner, and went back to work. He expected no fanfare and would have resisted had I requested to take their picture (I did not ask). Through genuine compassion, Nathan and Chris served water, soup, and fellowship to someone in need. They changed Linda's day, and they changed the day of the rest of us who watched the interaction.

Those two construction workers changed everyone in the Brookside Panera this week. They impacted their neighborhood, and that's how they changed the whole world.

A Perspective on Greatness

What does greatness mean to you? Would greatness mean you are at the top of your field, earning a top income, associating with world renowned people? Have you given much thought to what it would mean to be great? If you have not pondered that in a while, give it a minute right now.

Eleven year old Liang Yaoyi gave it much thought. "There are many people doing great things in the world," Liang Yaoyi said, according to China Daily. "They are great, and I want to be a great kid too."

To Liang, being great meant donating his organs upon his death.

Prior to his death in June of a brain tumor, Liang told his mother he wanted to donate his organs so someone else could live. It was a chance for him to be alive in a different way.

Liang’s perspective deeply touched the physicians, so they bowed to honor him after they removed his liver and kidneys. In the Chinese culture, the deeper the bow, the deeper the respect. As you can see in the photo, the physicians bowed deeply. You can see how touched Liang’s mother is in the background. 

Liang’s selfless act was so great that the bow has garnered the attention of media outlets around the globe. Now, a child who lived only eleven years will impact the world in a greater way than he imagined.

There are many ways to be great, and anyone can be great if they want to be. Most people don’t ponder it much. Most people are wrapped up in the mundaneness of daily life and we miss opportunities for greatness.

This week, slow down and seek those opportunities. They are all around. There are many people doing great things. Do you want to be one?

 

Observing Veterans Day with a WWII spitfire pilot and Roger Waters

This week, we will see signs acknowledging the military service of our colleagues, family, and friends. We will have coffee with them in the morning, meet with them throughout the day, and work with them tomorrow. As we do, let’s remember they have had a significant life experience the rest of us did not have. Today we set aside a few moments to honor them for it, and they let us. Most would rather the day go by without notice, but this one day, we get to recognize they have done something for us. Today, we get to remind ourselves to make their military experience worth it by earning it the rest of the year.

Two recent events reinforced the meaning of Veterans Day for me this year.

One was the Stand Up for Heroes concert last Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. The video below describes how a band of brothers came together to perform at the concert. The band members are Wounded Warriors, and they are led by Roger Waters of Pink Floyd. The band members talk about the impact music has on them and one, Marine Corporal Tim Donnelly, says, “I feel more whole now that I’ve ever been in my whole life.” He lost both legs and use of his arm in the recent war in Afghanistan.

The other event was not from the recent wars but from WWII.

Upon the death of his uncle, a man found two suitcases full of video shot by his uncle during WWII. His uncle was a flight surgeon who took more than 100 hours of film. As the man watched some of the film, he became curious about the people in the clips. He wondered if they had ever seen the film and if they would want to. One of the clips is of a pilot making an emergency landing of a spitfire.

The video below tells the story of the uncle and the pilot. The video shows Lt. John S. Blyth, a WWII recon mission pilot who flew unarmed and alone over Germany, seeing the film of his landing for the first time. The whole story is interesting, but seeing the pilot see his landing for the first time makes stories like this hit close to home.

On days like today, we often hear the phrase, “All gave some, and some gave all.” We work with people who gave some and know people who gave all. Today we honor all of them. 

Do you have a perception problem?

Yesterday afternoon I met a friend for coffee. We had not seen each other since May, so we enjoyed catching up for a while. At one point, I was telling her about an upcoming activity with some high school students, and she encouraged me to show a lot of confidence when interacting with kids that age. Another time in the conversation, I mentioned the first year with MRIGlobal flew by yet I feel so new, and she again urged me about confidence. After her second mention of it, I began to wonder if I come across to her, or in general, as if I don’t have confidence.

So, now I’m paranoid and lacking confidence!

The conversation prompted me to dig a little about perceptions. How do our impressions of others impact our behaviors? How do our perceptions of ourselves impact our performance? If anyone reading this has a perception problem, what I learned and pondered might help you too.

The psychology gurus are pretty set on the definition of perception: it is the process by which we translate our environment into our view of the world. Of course, our view affects our behaviors and behaviors lead to success or failure with work and people.

Take a look at the photo to the left. How old is the woman you see? The way you see the woman will impact how you treat her, if she were a real person in front of you. Or, perhaps you see something else entirely?

A colleague told me a story recently. The story was about selling shoes in India. As the story goes, an Indian leader wanted to set up a shoe business in a specific region, so he sent an ambassador there to do some recon work. The elder ambassador spent little time in the region and told the leader that selling shoes in that region would be a waste of time because the people don’t even wear shoes.

In the meantime, an enterprising young man met the leader. The young man was eager to prove himself worthy of a position with the leader, so he offered to go to the same region to assess the shoe business potential. He spent time in the region, interacted with the people, noted their interests and needs. When he returned to the leader, he was excited about the potential shoe business. There was great potential because the people don’t wear shoes! Turns out, the young man was right and the shoe business prospered.

Perception affects behavior, and behavior affects success with work and people. Watch out for three common perception problems to make sure you see things as they are and act accordingly.

Self-fulfilling prophecy: Believing something is true causes it to come true. The best example I can think of for this is “parking karma.” I believe in such karma and it almost always works for me. When people in the car doubt or make fun of it, it always works. Right when a passenger laughs off my parking prayer (“Hail Mary full of grace, help me find a parking space”), someone pulls out of the front spot. Another common example is when searching for a lost item. It is better to say, “I will remember to print the report” instead of “I hope I don’t forget to print the report.”

I read a statistic a long time ago that said 70%-90% of what we say to ourselves is negative. Pay attention to how you talk to, and about, yourself to see if that number could be taken down a notch or two.

 

Self-sabotage: Self-sabotage goes deeper than self-talk. Sometimes people procrastinate or do mediocre work as a way to sabotage themselves. A technique that helps self-sabotagers is Stop-Challenge-Focus. (SOURCE: Turn Self-Sabotage Into Success By Geoffrey James on www.inc.com)

When you avoid taking an action that would help you reach your goals, use the three steps:

1.       STOP. Identify the belief that's causing you to feel emotions that aren't helping you succeed.

2.       CHALLENGE. Question the validity of that belief and find reasons why it's not really true or not true in this case.

3.       FOCUS. Create a specific inner dialog that supports your goals and then take action immediately.

Fundamental attribution error: This is when we give positive explanations for our results and negative ones for others. For example, I got the “A” on the exam because I studied hard, while Joey got the “A” because he was lucky. At work, this might relate to positions, promotions, evaluations, or project assignments. A flawed sense of oneself leads to career stagnation or failure. It is difficult for others to give feedback when our vision of ourselves differs from how others view us, so watch for it yourself.

One of the great philosophers of our day, Stephen Colbert summed this issue up nicely, “It used to be, everyone was entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. But that's not the case anymore. Facts matter not at all. Perception is everything.”

Whether we are with friends, colleagues, or customers, perception is everything. Remember, that includes your perception of others and of yourself, not just their perception of you.

The greatness of simplicity

Usually I focus on business examples, but today let’s take a look at a different kind of leader example. Check out the comparison below.

The Pope on the left retired in February; the new Pope is on the right. Notice the difference in regalia. The new Pope, Pope Francis, has removed much of the formal regalia and majesty surrounding the Catholic Church leadership position. He doesn’t need fancy red shoes, red cape, red carpet, or ruby and diamond cross. His throne is a simple wooden one, which might be more like something Jesus would use as the son of a carpenter. His speeches are simple, not elaborate or complex. Pope Francis has changed the tone of the Vatican through his simplicity of living and communicating.

The new Pope is attracting followers because he is humble, yet strong. He has shown he thinks differently than previous Popes and those who run the Vatican, and so far, people, including Catholics like me, like it. The content of his message is the same as one would expect from the Catholic leader. It is his delivery and demeanor that are different.

You see, some leaders need regalia to feel worthy of their position. Others feel the worth inside themselves, and they trust in the wisdom of those who put them in the leadership position. Superficial, external, showmanship is not what real leadership is about. The new Pope knows it, just as other exemplary business leaders do.

We may hear more about Donald Trump than we hear about Jim Stowers, Dave Goebel, or Bonnie Kelly and Teresa Walsh, but that is changing. The pendulum is swinging as there is less interest in narcissistic Chief Ego Officers living large like rock stars and more interest in humble leaders living and working for something bigger than themselves.

Don’t confuse a humble leader with one who is meek, naïve, or docile. Humble leaders lack pretense, not guts. They know when they need help and they are self-assured enough to ask for it. Humble leaders know their weaknesses and seek input from others to counter them. Humble leaders lack arrogance, not assertiveness. They can even be aggressive when situations call for it.

Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, calls humble leaders Level 5 leaders. He says, “Level 5 leaders are differentiated from other levels of leaders in that they have a wonderful blend of personal humility combined with extraordinary professional will.”

It is not about the title in the company, it is about the triumph of humility and fierce resolve. The combination is characteristic of successful leaders in the Church, in business, and in life.

The slippery slope from confidence to arrogance

There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance. The topic has been on my mind, and I wasn’t sure where to draw the line, so I briefly researched and asked a dozen people for their perspectives.

According to dictionaries and different people, the difference between confidence and arrogance has to do with how one views others.

Confident people believe in themselves. They know they are competent, and their belief is not dependent on others. They may enjoy feedback and recognition, but they do not require it in order to feel good about themselves.

Arrogant people’s confidence depends on others’ weaknesses. They even point out others’ errors and faults to make themselves appear better. One colleague said, “Arrogant people only feel smart if someone else feels stupid.”

The tricky part about confidence and arrogance is that the line is so thin between them, it makes for a slippery slope. Confidence often turns in to arrogance after success.

Success requires confidence. Success requires the confidence to take risks regarding investments, innovations, and interactions. However, success can cause insecurity: when will the next risk pay off? What if the next one does not turn out well? What if that was a one-time success? The insecurity wears a mask called arrogance, hence, the slippery slope from confidence to arrogance.

Each article I read about arrogance described it as a cover for insecurity. Isn’t that interesting? The very thing arrogant people despise, weakness or insecurity, is what they are covering by putting others down to prop themselves up.

One of the most highly regarded experts on arrogance is University of Akron Dean Stanley Silverman who spent four years working with a research team to quantify arrogance.

"Here's what happens," Silverman said. "I'm worried that other people are going to realize that I'm not very competent at my job, so I'm going to put other people down, criticize others and belittle my employees because somehow I think I'm going to look better that way. If I put down everybody around me, it makes my candle shine a little brighter." (SOURCE: www.cleveland.com)

The following eight behaviors are how arrogant people make their candle shine brighter:

1.     Drop names. 

2.     Look for criteria other than business performance to use when measuring success. Since business performance might not be so good, arrogant people focus on their degree, school, or job title.

3.     One-up others. Arrogant people have the best of the best and worst of the worst of whatever experience is being discussed. They have the best book published, the worst cold the doctor has ever seen, the best behaved child, the worst boss. They did the biggest project with the most difficult client for the most money ever. Confident people don’t need to brag. They let their work speak for itself.

4.     Have an answer for everything. Arrogant people will rarely say, “I don’t know but will find out.”

5.     Interrupt frequently because they are not really listening.

6.     Avoid eye contact because they don’t care about others unless they need something from the person.

7.     Arrive late to meetings because their time is more valuable than everyone else’s.

8.     Blame others for errors or low performance. It’s never their fault the team is struggling.

 

What other behaviors do you attribute to arrogance? The more we know, the better able we will be to ensure we are not sliding down that slope. 

1.     Recognizing our own arrogant behavior can help improve our relationships with our colleagues. The following eight suggestions also can help if you have to work with arrogant people:

2.     Point at them and declare, “I know why you’re so arrogant: because you are weak!” in your best eight-year-old nah-nah-nah voice. Just kidding—don’t confront them. They will see it as a compliment and it will just waste your time.

3.     Build your own confidence so you do not have time to give attention to negative people.

4.     Spend free time with positive people who do not diminish your accomplishments or try to impress you. Minimize the time you spend with the arrogant person.

5.     Admire and recognize the accomplishments of others. When the arrogant person sees you acknowledge someone else, he might alter his behavior in his quest for approval.

6.     Keep secrets to yourself. Anything you tell an arrogant person could end up as fodder for her own esteem-boosting if she resorts to putting you down to pull herself up.

7.     Do not badmouth the arrogant colleague. Some people actually believe any press is good press. Also, gossiping can lead to wasting too much time on a topic not worth it.

8.     Include others in your conversations with the arrogant person. “Russell, we have heard your view. Now it is time to hear from Sally.”

9.     Most importantly, realize their arrogance is not about you.

What else have you done to work successfully with arrogant people?

Since this topic has been on my mind, I asked a group of business professionals recently how many of them have ever worked with an arrogant colleague. Every hand raised high. When I asked if they were the arrogant person, all hands went down.

"If you're being arrogant, you're going to derail your own career," said Stanley Silverman, an organizational and industrial psychologist. "It's just a matter of when. Nobody is irreplaceable."  Even when an arrogant person is more skilled, the confident person will win out because they can work better with others internally and externally.

When it comes down to it, performance matters. No one will work their hardest for someone who puts them down or tries to make them feel inferior. The good news is that if you’ve begun the slippery slope from confidence to arrogance, you can get back on track and salvage your reputation.

 

The triple threat of human spirit: Will Still Thrill

When you combine WILL power with the STILL power of self-awareness and self-acceptance with the THRILL power of inspiration, you are living All-In. (SOURCE: Ian Lawton at www.SoulSeeds.com)

Of the three, which do you need to enhance most:

1. Do you need to boost your WILL power?
2. Do you need to be more aware of yourself and how you are received? Or, do you need to be more accepting of yourself?
3. Do you need to be more inspired? The most inspired people I know find inspiration intentionally every day. Do you, or do you want to do it more often? 

Whatever your answer, I hope you commit to it and continue to live and lead All-In and inspire others to do the same.

Nine Nanas give new meaning to the term "drive-by"

It just doesn't get more All-In than this! There's no need for me to rewrite an already lovely story. Please click the link below and enjoy proof that the world is good. When it's more common to hear about crimes and mistakes, this story will remind you of the good business leaders.

It Ain't Over: The Business 9 Women Kept A Secret For Three Decades

How the Nine Nanas are All-In: 

1. They kept it a secret for more than 30 years--doing good without seeking credit 
2. Now that the secret is out, they've invited others in, instead of keeping the credit to themselves " 
3. They seek opportunities to make others happy (All-In strategy #3: Notice Others) 
4. They trade jobs, depending on who feels like doing what--no egos tied to the jobs! 
5. They work as a team united in one goal: to make others happy 

How could you bring a little of the Nine Nanas to your workplace? (Well, you could start by ordering their pound cake from the site below. Have it delivered to the office and use the opportunity to tell your team about these remarkable women.)

Imagine a workplace full of selfless people united in one goal. It can be done!

www.Happiness-Happens.com

Challenges reveal character of individuals and teams

They say challenges build character. I have often said that challenges reveal character too. When faced with a challenge you find out what you're really made of. When a team faces a challenge, it finds out what it's made of too. 

When obstacles are in front of your workplace, department, or teams, what is the response? Do people rally together quickly and vow to beat the barrier to success? Or do you see more time spent on blaming others for causing the obstacles? Or, are there excuses? Blame and excuses keep people and teams stagnant--with no chance of rising above any challenges.

As a teammate or team leader, you play a part in getting the team to beat the challenge.

A terrific example was on Good Morning America early today. Watch how this team, who works closely every day on live television, handled a major life challenge. What does your team have in common with this one? Would your teammates rally like this?

Not many would.

The teams that reach this level of emotional connection, respect, and trust are All-In. They are the ones that will be most successful. What part do you play as the teammate or team leader?

Kids epitomize the All-In way

There are so many examples of what All-In looks like in this clip. The runner, his family, the teacher, the adults, his classmates. They gave Matt, the runner, a special moment he can remember forever. For a brief time in his life, he had everyone behind him--literally!

Matt did something for everyone else too. He showed perseverance, determination, and grace. He gave the whole group an opportunity to unite and cheer.

Imagine a company where this type of energy exists every day. Imagine a corporate culture full of All-In people. It can happen when the opportunity for it exists.

Enjoy this clip...

A corporate culture founded in doggie doo

If the president of a company is the type of person who would leave a bag of dog poo in his neighbor's mailbox, what kind of leader do you think he is? With a leader like him, what kind of corporate culture do you think he supported?

Bob Furnad, former president of CNN Headline News, was captured on video last weekend leaving a bag of his dog's poo in his neighbors' mail box. Mr. Furnad admitted leaving the bag. "This was an immature act in response to years of malicious rumor mongering that I consider defamation of character," Mr. Furnad told the local Georgia newspaper.

The neighbors have said they haven't even spoken with Mr. Furnad in years and don't know why he would leave the poo in their mailbox. They said there is no feud. 

Mr. Furnad's immature behavior is unacceptable for a 70+ year old man, a corporate executive, a leader of any kind. What are the chances this was a one-time lapse of judgement, a rare lapse of maturity? I bet zero chance.

I wonder if Mr. Furnad was the type of leader who blamed others for his shortcomings, wallowed in mistakes, and failed to build valuable relationships. Would a leader who premeditates putting dog poo in his neighbors' mailbox foster a culture of accountability in which everyone was valued? Not likely.

If he would put poo in his neighbors' mailbox, chances are really good that he slung it around in the office too, although not literally of course. Or, perhaps literally.

Story on GMA

All-In Person of the Week: It's a lawyer!

A woman fell on to the tracks at a New York City subway station Saturday, and a 40-year old father of three jumped to her rescue. Greg Wetzel did not see the woman fall but was told she was stumbling prior to falling off the platform.

She lay unconscious as onlookers decided what to do. Mr. Wetzel, who was accompanied by his three young children as he approached the scene, jumped to the tracks and passed the woman to helpers on the platform. An emergency vehicle drove the woman to Roosevelt Hospital but her condition is unknown.

Mr. Wetzel is a lawyer for an aviation company.

It's one thing to be All-In in one's own life and as a parent, but to be so All-In as to jump to subway tracks to save a stranger is remarkable. And, rare.

Well done, Mr. Wetzel! You're the All-In person of the week!

(Source: http://gma.yahoo.com)

Corporations walk their talk and kick leaders to the curb

Now that Values are openly displayed on web sites, touted in advertisements, and posted on walls throughout corporate America, discrepancies between Values and behavior are noticed. Lately, it seems corporations are taking notice of their values and are trying to behave consistently.

Whether they like it or not, the web sites, advertisements, and posters are prompting many companies to be All-In.

Consider three current examples:

1. JPMorgan Chase admitted late last week that it experienced a $2 billion loss caused by, in its own words, sloppiness and bad judgment.

One PR model often followed in similar embarrassing, costly circumstances is to deny, downplay, then barely acknowledge and reluctantly fire a few people (a la Goldman Sachs). In response to its exorbitant losses, 

JPMorgan Chase went public before news leaked nationwide, started the CEO apology tour quickly, and accepted resignations or fired people involved. Their behavior is interesting because their Values Statement reads:  Our values are reflected in the way that we conduct our business and in the first-class results that we consistently achieve for our clients.

2. Best Buy's CEO, Brian Dunn, resigned in April for undisclosed personal reasons (All-In blog post). The reasons were disclosed yesterday: he had an extremely close relationship with a female coworker, and it affected the workplace. In light of that disclosure, Best Buy's Chairman resigned yesterday because he knew about the relationship. On its web site, one of Best Buy's values is to "Show respect, humility and integrity." At least in the midst of disrespect and lack of integrity, the company is showing some of both this week.

3. Yahoo's CEO, Scott Thompson, was lambasted the ten days, including here, for lying on his resume for years. When the lie became public ten days ago, the former CEO downplayed the lie and only acknowledged the distraction it had become for the employees. However, others took the lie more seriously. The executive who led the hiring process of Thompson, who began work at Yahoo in January, was let go, along with others. Yahoo's values include: We are committed to winning with integrity.The CEO was not committed to the same thing, and he is out.

 Clearly, living by their internal values has been difficult, embarrassing, and humbling for JPMorgan Chase, Best Buy, and Yahoo. Even when they are not perfect, all of their stakeholders can see they are trying to behave the way their values determine. Now when the executives of those companies ask for first-class conduct, respect, and integrity, they are role models for their corporate culture because they are walking the talk, and web sited, advertisements, and posters

All-In janitor graduates with honors from Columbia

Janitor Gac Filipaj has spent nearly twenty years on Columbia University's campus and earns his Bachelors degree this week. Congratulations to another well-educated All-In Person of the Week!


 

All-In Person of the Week: Dr. Shaq

You know those soda commercials featuring celebrities with Doctor nicknames like Dr. Dre? Former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal could star in one of those now, but he can use Doctor legitimately.

Over the weekend Shaquille O'Neal earned a doctorate in education from Florida's Barry University, a private Catholic school.

Just to confirm: it is not an honorary degree. His GPA is above a 3.8, and he adds the doctorate to his BA and MBA. Next up: a law degree.

Congratulations to Dr. O'Neal, All-In Person of the Week!

All-In Person of the Week: Pat Summit

"My parents taught me a long time ago that you win in life with people. And that's important, because if you hang with winners, you stand a great chance of being a winner."  No one in college sports knows more about winning than Coach Pat Summit. She is the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball--male or female.

She won eight national championships as the women's head coach at the University of Tennessee, 16 regular-season Southeastern Conference championships and 16 SEC tournament titles.

During her tenure as Head Coach, Tennessee never failed to reach the NCAA tournament, never received a seed lower than No. 5. Her teams reached the Final Four 18 times, which ties the UCLA and North Carolina men for the most all-time by a college basketball program.

Coach Summit never had a season with a losing record. Her teams won1,098 games and lost 208 for an impressive .840 average. Coach Summit knows about winning. She has surrounded herself with winners on her teams, and her teams have won big.

After 38 years as the Head Coach, this week Coach Summit became the team's Head Coach Emeritus. Later this year, she will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Coach Summit revealed last summer that she had been diagnosed with early-onset dementia, Alzheimer's type. She has shown the same determination, attitude, and grace regarding her health as she has shown regarding the impact she's had on women's athletics.

Congratulations to Coach Pat Summit for being All-In on and off the basketball court.

(Sources: ESPN and UTladyvols.com)

Are your company leaders as All-In as Caine?

Look at his passion! His ingenuity! Attention to detail! Perseverance! Does your company show nearly as much excitement for what it does as Caine's Arcade? Not many people, company leaders, or companies are as All-In as Caine.

This video is about Caine Monroy, a nine-year old boy who built an elaborate cardboard arcade inside his dad’s auto parts store in East LA. Caine is about to have the best day of his life.

There are many business lessons to learn from this story:

1. Caine is selfless. He built a business about something he is passionate about and wanted to share.
2. Caine's attention to detail--he even climbs in boxes to send the winning tickets through--creates an ideal customer experience.
3. Caine wants people to play the games. Don't you get the feeling sometimes that you're bothering people, even though you are the customer? Caine is disappointed his games go unplayed. He wants customers to have fun!
4. Caine's pricing strategy is mind boggling. He gives a good deal--$2 for 500 plays--because he wants people to play. Caine's thought: let's price it to give customers more enjoyment. Other companies: let's price to get the most out of the customers as possible.
5. People come for something good! Kudos to Nirvan Mullick, the filmmaker who happened by the store for a part for his car. Nirvan made a short video about Caine's Arcade and promoted the Arcade. Caine's authenticity, attention to detail, and likeability attracted Nirvan and all of the people who showed up to make his day. (Now, people are donating to his scholarship fund.)

What else could be learned from Caine's story and the way he built his business?

Starbucks CEO takes the lead in stakeholder alignment

Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, made news late last year when he instigated a ban of campaign donations in this $6 billion campaign year. More than 150 CEOs joined Schultz in declining to donate to incumbents during the current campaign year.

Now, Schultz is working to put Americans back to work. He was on the CBS morning show to give a glimpse of the new program and Starbucks's actions to create more jobs.

Schultz describes the Create Jobs for USA Fund, Starbucks internal job creation actions, and the impact of aligned stakeholder focus on investors. (Hint: it's good!)

Later today, Google Offers and Banana Republic revealed their efforts in the Create Jobs for USA Fund. Schultz may be one of the leaders on the forefront of the stakeholder alignment movement. Where are you and your company leaders on that front? 

All-In All Star of the Week: Elena Delle Donne

In a time when many young, pretty co-eds opt for fame over family and everything else...when being famous is a more common goal than being talented...when shady character is the foundation for a fan base, it is refreshing to meet Elena Delle Donne.

Elena Delle Donne is worth knowing. As Robin Roberts of ABC's Good Morning America said, "She chose family over fame and achieved both."

In 2008, Elena was the top woman's high school basketball player in the country. She signed to play at the University of  Connecticut, the #1 program in the country. After moving to the university from her home in Delaware, Delle Donne stayed just two days. She left school, left the team, and left town.

Many girls her age dream of being a celebrity on television all the time, but Elena gave up the chance to be a star at UConn. She was skewered in the media for leaving the program without publicly explaining herself.

She moved to the University of Delaware, just twenty miles from her family's home. It turns out, the reason she left Connecticut was to be closer to her family, especially to her big sister. Her older sister, Lizzie, was born deaf, blind, autistic, and with cerebral palsy. Elena says Lizzie is the strongest person she knows. Although she gave up several national championships, Elena says, "National championships are huge and every team wants one, including Delaware, but there's a lot more to life than basketball. Lizzie is my role model, my angel, my everything."

At a time when frivolous people are celebrated, Elena Delle Donne is gaining fame by being true to herself, by seeing the bigger picture of life, by being All-In.

Enjoy this video, from ABC News. You will be glad to know about Elena Delle Donne, the All-In All Star of the Week.

Since basketball is part of the story, you might enjoy knowing that Delle Donne and her team earned the first post-season victory ever by a Delaware basketball team when they beat Arkansas-Little Rock 73-42 last Sunday.

Third-seeded Delaware (31-1), ranked # 8 in the Coaches Poll, won its 21st in a row. The only game they lost the whole season was December 29, 2011.

They made it through the first round on the NCAA tournament but lost to Kansas Tuesday, ending the season 31-2. Delle Donne had 34 points in that game and remains the nation's leading scorer. She's only a junior, so maybe she'll be the All-In All Star of the week a year from now.

Way to go, Elena Delle Donne! Congratulations to you, your family, and all the Blue Hens and their fans!