Steven Gorlin's Posts

I'm looking for your guidance and council....

Posted by Steven Gorlin on June 8, 2012 at 1:50pm

I'm preparing today to chair APSP in November. You may already know we are deeply involved in strategic planning, searching for our CEO's successor in 18 months, and trying to become more relevant to the swimming pool / recreational water industry as a whole. I'd like your council. Please answer the following: What is your vision for a better future for the industry? (Rank order your reply 1-10 or as few or as many as you like)

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Posted by Steven Gorlin on November 10, 2008 at 7:13pm

7 Habits of Highly Effective PeopleStephen CoveyEffectiveness: Getting the results you want in a way that enables you to get even greater results in the future. In other words success that endures. Success that is sustainable and balanced.Habit 1 – Be Proactive: The habit of being proactive, or the habit of personal vision, means taking responsibility for our attitudes and actions. Take the initiative and the responsibility to make things happen. Principle: ResponsibilityHabit 2 – Begin with the End in Mind: This is the habit of personal leadership. Start with a clear destination to understand where you are now, where you’re going, and what you value most. Principle: Having Purpose and ValuesHabit 3 – Put First Things First: This is the habit of personal management, which involves organizing and managing time and events. Manage yourself. Organize and execute around priorities. Principle: Living by your Purpose and ValuesHabit 4 – Think Win-Win: Win-Win is the habit of interpersonal leadership. Win-Win is also the attitude of seeking mutual benefit. Principle: Mutual respect and BenefitHabit 5 – Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood: This is the habit of empathic communication. Understanding builds the skills of empathic listening that inspire openness and trust. Principle: Mutual UnderstandingHabit 6 – Synergize: This is the habit of creative cooperation or teamwork. Synergy results from valuing differences by bringing different perspectives together in the spirit of mutual respect. Principle: Creative Co-operationHabit 7 – Sharpen the Saw: This is the habit of self-renewal. Preserving and enhancing your greatest asset, yourself, by renewing the physical, spiritual, mental, and social/emotional dimensions of your nature. Principle: Renewal and Continual ImprovementPrinciples: Natural laws that govern our lives, whether or not we know them or like them or agree with them. To optimize change you need principles that don’t change. Principles are timeless and self-evident.Habits: Embodied principles that you live until they become habitual, almost second nature.Living these habits can affect profound growth in 4 places: Personal Growth, The Family, The Community, and The Work PlaceYour confidence will grow in your ability to adapt and apply the 7 habits framework to any difficult situation, any challenge you experience now or in the future. You’ll also begin to see opportunity in your problems, so that your creative powers are released. When we solve something we get rid of it. When we create we bring something into existence. The creative mindset solves problems better than the problem solving mindset.To LiveTo LoveTo LearnTo Leave a LegacyVisionCourageCompassionIntegrity = courage + compassion

Go To NESPA group - What can NESPA do to help you through this economy?

Posted by Steven Gorlin on November 9, 2008 at 7:01pm

Go To NESPA group - What can NESPA do to help you through this economy?If this year was down...next year is looking even worse. The Northeast Spa and Pool Association is determined to take a leading role in assisting it's members. People, strategy, and execution is critical. Where can NESPA help? This is an open discussion for you to become engaged. Perhaps, nothing is more important to the success of your business than sharing experiences from and with your piers. You are in business for yourself but you don't have to be by yourself? Speak out... Let's really get this 500 lb guerilla out in the open. Let's share our experience in an effort to do together what we may not be able to do alone.

WANDERING GENERALITY OR A MEANINGFUL SPECIFIC? What Is Your Aim In Life?

Posted by Steven Gorlin on October 24, 2008 at 6:30am

Business DevelopmentAre you a Wandering Generality or a Meaningful Specific?What is you Aim in life?If you already set goals this should be right up your ally. Truth is, only 4% of Americans set goals. Determining where you want to go and when you want to get there is your road map or your GPS for the direction you want for your life. Every effective person I’ve interviewed told me they set goals in every department of their lives. Goals assist you in getting where you want to go. They keep you on target. They prevent you from driving off the road. Imagine trying to direct your way around Chicago with a map of New York? If you’re waiting for life to come to you, you’ll be disappointed. Life is to busy. The best way to predict your future is… to create it.It’s not just about having a goal it’s about having the right goal for the right reason at the right time for you. So…how do you do this? How will you know? Well… begin by asking yourself these questions:1. What do I want my friends and family to say about me at my funeral?(Sound corny? Sit quietly, alone and jot down the first things that come into your mind.Unrehearsed and non-judgmental. Just write down what comes to mind.You can always go back later to negate this or dispute that. Just write what comes to mind.Don’t replay the ‘same ‘ol’ tapes from your past.Ask yourself the question then calmly and quietly UNCOVER or DISCOVER your TRUE responses)2. What do I believe in?3. What values do I cherish?4. What principles do I believe in?5. Who are my heroes and why? Do they project the values I cherish? If so, which ones?6. If money were not an issue – What would I really do?7. If Iknew I could not fail – What would I really do?8. What are my strengths?9. Where do I need to improve?From your answers to these questions (you can add additional questions of your own) write one or two sentences that becomes your PERSONAL MISSION STATEMENT. This is your CHIEF AIM IN LIFE. You now know where you want to go and when you want to get there. You’re now a MEANINGFUL SPECIFIC and not a WANDERING GENERALITY. Shhhhh…Here’s a secret... Use your PERSONAL MISSION STATEMENT, YOUR CHIEF AIM IN LIFE, to help develop your business mission statement which should support your PERSONAL MISSION STATEMENT. Now…your business becomes... more than… just a job! Your business becomes the vehicle that transports you to your AIM IN LIFE.After you develop your BUSINESS MISSION STATEMENT you develop:1. Your Strategic Objective2. Your Organizational Strategy3. Your Management Strategy4. Your People Strategy5. Your Marketing Strategy6. Your Systems StrategyFor more information on this pick up Michael Gerber’s “THE EMYTH REVISITED”. You’ll thank me later. If enough of you respond, I’ll be discussing each topic above…a little at a time…in the future. Let me hear from you, Stay tuned and check back in.

CREATING RAVING FANS

Posted by Steven Gorlin on October 22, 2008 at 6:39am

Just a Suggestion from a student of Raving Fans.Step 1 DECIDE. Get together with your staff. Brain storm. If you already haven't, first define your customer. If you already have...do it again and see if anything has changed. Now... with that customer in mind - CREATE A VISION OF WHAT THE PERFECT EXPERIENCE IS - FOR THAT CUSTOMER. You are the source. It's what you want as perfection that comes first. How many times and in what ways does your company TOUCH the customer? You decide what perfection is for each of those TOUCH POINTS. It doesn't mean you have to be perfect. Just imagine the perfect experience centered on the customer.Step 2 DISCOVER what the customer's perceptions of your company is. How do they perceive each and every TOUCH POINT? Ask them, talk with them, and... LISTEN TO THEM.Step 3 DELIVER+1. Find the weak points...improve them. Write procedures so that each and every TOUCH POINT becomes PREDICTABLE and CONSISTANT. The perfect experience! Like the McDonalds french fry. You buy it, not because it's the best, but because you know what it is. You've experienced the consistency. Now, once the procedures are written manage the process not the employees. Be sure the process is accurate if not update it, refine it, and keep testing it.+1 means deliver your service predictably, consistantly, each and every time again and again. Then, just go 1% further. That 1% here and another 1% there over time adds up to a lot of percent (%). Plus, it doesn't create unreasonable demands on the system or your employees. Asking for 110% sounds great but may be unreasonable and if those goals are not met your staff may become disappointed, disengaged, and 'done-in'.So.. DECIDE, DISCOVER, DELIVER PLUS 1 Try it. It works. If you require further information on this procedure read Ken Blanchards, "RAVING FANS".

AM huddle at work today we discussed "TRUST"

Posted by Steven Gorlin on October 20, 2008 at 6:23am

"There is one thing that is common to every individual, team, family, organization, nation, economy, and civilization throughout the world - one thing which, if removed, will destroy the most powerful government, the most successful business, the most thriving economy, the most influential leadership, the greatest friendship, the strongest character, the deepest love. On the other hand, if developed and leveraged, that one thing has the potential to create unparalleled success and prosperity in every dimension of life. Yet, it is the least understood, most neglected, and most under estimated possibility of our time."That One Thing is TRUSTContrary to what most people believe, trust is not some soft, illusive quality that you either have or you don't; rather trust is a pragmatic, tangible, actionable asset that you can create - much faster than you probably thiink possible.The ONE Thing That Changes EVERYTHING"While corporate scandals, terrorist threats, office politics, and broken relationships have created low trust on almost every front, I contend that the ability to establish, grow, extend, and restore trust is not only vital to our personal and interpersonal well-being; it is the key leadership competency of the new global economy. I am also convinced that in every situation,NOTHING IS AS FAST AS THE SPEED OF TRUST.And, contrary to the popular belief, trust is something you can do something about. In fact, you can get good at creating it."These words were written by Stephen M.R.Covey in the introductionof his book titled, THE SPEED OF TRUST.It helps every leader to understand how trust is the foundation for any true and lasting success.TRUST MEN AND THEY WILL BE TRUE TO YOU; TREAT THEM GREATLY, AND THEY WILL SHOW THEMSELVES GREAT - Ralph Waldo Emerson