Tim's (C+ Jim) Triple Play - Edition #9; Have You Ever Tucked A Tie In To Your Shirt? Momentum In Sports Is Everything! My Favourite Christmas Songs

Hey Everyone!I hope you are all doing well as the holiday season approaches. It's been insanely cold here in Alberta, Canada, but we are a hearty bunch and gotta keep living!

For those of you in warmer climates, for context we've had some nights of -40C (-40F)! 

Whoa! :-)

Let's get right in to my last newsletter edition of 2022.

Business

My first job out of university was with Enterprise-Rent-A-Car. It was a high paced, non-stop action role that keeps me running all day. Most days I did not believe that we could take care of all the customers, but we did. Things just always worked out.

Part of our jobs was washing cars. On the surface anyone should be able to wash a car. But in that business, the key was to wash it quickly, but still make things spotless.

I worked for several Branch Managers and Assistant Managers during my 2+ years with the company, and they were each different. They got similar exceptional results, but the way they each lead and managed was unique.

But there was one commonality. They would never hesitate to jump into the car wash and clean a vehicle at a moment’s notice.

I was once told that you just,

“Tuck your tie in to your shirt so it does not get wet, or sucked up in to the vacuum, and just GET IT DONE."

They would also do many other tasks that were not on their job description like pick up customers, and start cars when it was colder than -30 degrees celsius!

These people stood out for me as true leaders. It would have been easy for them to sit in their offices, shuffle paperwork and pretend that they were doing more important things then help customers be completely satisfied with their rental experience, but that was not in their DNA. They were there to help, no matter how crummy the tasks were, all in the name of “just being one of the team”.

Even though it was over 24 years ago that I washed my last car at Enterprise, I still think back fondly of the lessons learned – and there were many of them.

But the best lessons learned taught a shy, stuttering young kid how to be a leader. How to never put myself ahead of the team, and how to never put myself on a pedestal too high, that I could not help out people who really needed me.

• Who was the best leader that you have ever worked for?

• What made them a cut above the rest?

Sports

Momentum is EVERYTHING in sports, and the Minnesota Vikings did the unthinkable last week, coming back from being down 33-0 at halftime. I forgot to record the game, and was frustrated with myself for not doing so. That's the type of game that I would sit down and watch in it's entirety.

Once Minnesota got their first points, you could see the momentum starting to shift slowly, then they really started to get their groove on. Long story short, they won 39-36 to complete the greatest comeback in NFL history.

Click here to see the highlights of this incredible game.

France was down 2-0 to Argentina in the 2nd half of the World Cup soccer final last weekend, and were seemingly down and out. But two quick goals from their star striker Mbappe and they were right back in to the game. They ultimately lost in penalty kicks after an exciting overtime period, but the comeback was very impressive.

It only takes on play, on decisive moment in a sporting event to turn your fortunes for the better. They same can be said for a career, side-hustle or anything else that you may be working on in your life. Stay positive, don't get discouraged and keep DOING THE WORK every day!

Music

I'm listening to some Christmas music as I write my last newsletter of 2022. Here are some of my favourites. I hope you like them too. Click on the titles to hear some classics if you celebrate.

Do They Know It's Christmas - Band Aid

Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy - David Bowie & Bing Crosby

Christmas Time - Bryan Adams

The Christmas Song - Richard Marx

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas - Michael Buble

And... 2 showstoppers that always make me laugh:

Twelve Days Of Christmas - Bob & Doug McKenzie

Blue Christmas - Porky Pig

This will be my last newsletter for 2022. I wanted to take a moment to thank you for joining me this fall. I'm looking forward to bigger and better things in 2023, and will keep you posted how things are going here.

As always, if you know of anyone that may be interested in joining us, please click this link and share.

Have a great holiday season!All the best in 2023!

Tim (C+ Jim)