"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting" - Sun Tzu

How I got recommended, and almost landed a job at Home Depot today

When our new Gardena 7 pattern spray wand broke (for no apparent reason), I went to our neighbourhood Home Depot to get a replacement.

The wand was not available in stock so the folks there directed me to another store nearby, based on the available quantities shown online on their computer

Visited the second store, which was supposed to have 8 of these in stock.

Saw only one opened product on the shelf (probably returned), and asked the associate if he could find another one for me. After all they were supposed to have 8 in stock.

He said there was only one available, and what is shown online on the computer maybe referring to damaged/returned products. 

To help me out, he went on to call other stores to see if they actually had the wand on their shelves (not online). 

"Seeing is believing right?" I said, and he nodded in agreement.

After several phone calls, no luck at the other stores. 

Apparently someone made an error and the SKU numbers were entered wrong, so nothing on their shelves.

I said I was curious to know more about the 8 that were supposed to be available in stock here, and asked if he could check the unopened boxes on one of the top shelves. 

He was kind and patient, and agreed. 

But the box had an SKU number which was not exactly what we were looking for, but similar. 

So I said, "what if they made an error writing the numbers?"

So he got a ladder, went up and opened the box, and voila ... a box full of new wands!

By now, other customers were lining up waiting for his help, but he asked me 

"Are you interested in a part time job?"

"Yes" I replied.

Then giving his name and department details he said,

"Go to the Home Depot website and apply, they may never get back to you in six months, but don't give up. Say that I recommend you"

Looking at the other waiting customers, he says to me 

"I could give you an orange apron in one hour if you are willing to join!"

I thanked him, smiled, paid, and wand in hand, left ☺

Yes I am looking for work/business, 
And if you need a persistent, customer-centric, multifaceted, investigative, results-oriented guy like me, 
You can find my profile here!

☺

How do you connect on LinkedIn?

How do you connect on LinkedIn?

There are lots of scammers out there - folks trying to setup business deals but mostly marketers trying to get your business. Over the past year I've received invitations to connect on LinkedIn from folks all over the world. When you see an invitation from someone with a title like Chairman, Founder or President, the tendency is to accept the invitation. No, I don't - I am more cautious with such titles ☺

How do you know whether the person requesting the invitation is real?

Simple - verify, verify and verify.

Here is how I do it:

Verify that the person exists

This morning I received an invitation from a CEO (with no profile picture). A LinkedIn profile with no profile picture is perfect for an anonymous scammer. If the title is CEO or something suggesting senior management, check out the website of the company they claim to be representing. The CEO had two common connections with me. Having common connections is no reason to connect, because the common connections may have been fooled. Also this CEO had 2000+ connections on LinkedIn. Imagine how many people have been fooled already by this profile alone!

Never get carried away by number of connections. There are lots of profiles on Twitter with a huge number of connections - and these days you can buy connections for a dime. I use Twitter to connect with everyone, real or not. Back to the LinkedIn invitation I received, I called the President of the company and verified that there is no such person. Matter closed.

Wouldn't it be nice if LinkedIn had a 'Verified Account' badge for their authentic users?

Nothing validates a person better than recommendations

Even if a person has a very illustrious looking LinkedIn profile with numerous endorsements, large number of connections, great title and an awesome profile picture, it doesn't mean they are genuine. Because anyone can write a whole bunch of stuff about themselves.

However, there is nothing that validates a person better than LinkedIn recommendations.  This is the main reason I have a profile on LinkedIn. And I am ever thankful to those who follow my company page and have recommended me on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn recommendations are written by others about you and they can be verified. I'd trust someone is real if they have at least five recommendations for five different companies they have worked for over a span of several years.

How do you connect on LinkedIn?

What does #business and money have to do with #wildlife and #nature #conservation?

#Decision #Task When people talk about forming committees, I think of this quote

#Hosting When a plane crashes, data can be retrieved from the black box ... #DisasterRecovery

... but are your home and office computer systems protected from a system crash?

What would you do if you lost all your data?

To host and manage your mission-critical IT infrastructure and protect your data with the highest levels of security, compliance and availability, please contact me

Now that is a lot of money for a dinner for four ☺

Surely, I'll retain this copy for my records

Have a good weekend friends ☺

Thanks to Vistaprint, designing, printing and buying #business cards was real easy!

I can focus on my customers!

#Social #interaction Here is one way to meet new people ☺

"If you think it's hard to meet new people, try picking up the wrong golf ball" - Jack Lemmon

#Business #NonVerbal "The most important thing in #communication is hearing what isn't said" - Peter Drucker

The art of moving thoughts, ideas and emotions from one person to another, is communication. 

It can be non-verbal ☺

"The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said" - Peter Drucker

#Growth "You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was" - Abraham Lincoln

"You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was" - Abraham Lincoln

"The most important single ingredient in the formula of #success is knowing how to get along with people" - Theodore Roosevelt

"Example is Leadership" - Albert Schweitzer

The best leaders lead by example ☺

#Business "The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to #trust them" - Ernest Hemingway

(And if you want to know what the elephant does next ... ask me) ☺

#Business #TimeManagement "Time is the scarcest resource ..." - Peter Drucker

"Time is the scarcest resource, and unless it is managed, nothing else can be managed" 

- Peter Drucker

“If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old” - Peter Drucker

#Business Creating a logo with @Canva was as easy as lighting a candle ☺

Especially for someone like me who has no knowledge of HTML ☺

All I did was light a candle ...

Take a photograph 

Upload it to Canva

And add the text

What's behind the logo?

#Language If you want to know who the real #recruiters are on LinkedIn, check the way they spell #recruiting

One of them contacted me with a wrong spelling. 

I did a LinkedIn search with that spelling and got 2,717 results ☺

Nice! @StaplesCanada delivered my PLAK-IT's well before they promised. That's what I call great customer experience! #Cx

Mailing high resolution digital #prints of my #paintings to a #pastor in Saskatchewan ☺

Interestingly, prints of my paintings cost less than shipping ☺