April is almost behind us as we only have three working days left in the month.  Everyone at Approved Auto, Choice Pawn, and Money Matters started April with very specific goals to meet for the month.  Do you know where you stand on your goals?  Do you know what must be accomplished over the next three days to meet your goal if you haven’t already achieved it?  If not, let’s find out where we stand and create plan to finish the month strong.  Good luck to everyone over the next three days.

Productivity- Team members are measured and rewarded by the effectiveness of their productivity.- MEI Vision and Values Statement

Being easy-going when you have a goal to reach seldom makes the going easy.-Frank Tyger

Let’s finish strong….Louis

In our Vision statement it states: Honesty and integrity are core principles on which we will not compromise.” What an outstanding principle to not only base our business, but also our lives.

This week I asked my team to tell me what integrity means to them. Listed below are the comments from team members in my district.

Integrity to me is Godliness, having respect and love for others. Loyalty and Dedication.  – Brenda, Aliceville

To me integrity means doing what you know in your heart is right, and staying true to your personal morals.  – Lacie, Hamilton

Respect falls into the category with integrity. Respecting the people you work with shows the desire you have for a healthy work environment. Polite communication and respecting your co-workers ideas and feelings show your willingness to work together as a team towards the same goal.  – Stephanie, Demopolis

Staying in the context of our work environment, executing the traits of integrity is very important. Honesty, decency, responsible behaviors are key. Without these behaviors the workplace can become tense & uncomfortable. Follow thru with your word and be honorable with your actions.  – Kelly, Demopolis

Integrity to me is honesty your morality. If you have strong morals and are honest you just can’t go wrong. Plan and simple.   Dawn, Greensboro

REAL INTERGRITY is doing what’s right knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not. SIMPLE!!!   – Jequila, Greensboro

Mine is-When asked to do something that is against your beliefs and you refuse to. Always stand up for what you believe in.  –  Susan, Fayette

Integrity is a display of our actions and foundation. It involves conducting yourself in good faith. Even if it is not the best of decisions, if done with the best intentions, it still counts and shows integrity. Honesty is always the best policy, even if the most favorable outcome is not in sight. Integrity measures our accountability for honesty.  -Lindsey, Camden

What outstanding comments from all of these team members.

So what does integrity mean to me?

During our management camp we watched a clip from Joel Osteen.  He told a story about him driving into a parking lot and as he got out of his car some papers blew by him into the parking lot. He paused for a second, thinking I really don’t have time to chase the paper across the parking lot, someone will pick it up. He thought to himself, is that the right thing to do? So he began chasing the paper all over the parking lot and finally corralling the paper. As he did an older couple got out of their car and stated to him, we were watching to see what you would do. They were watching him as he chased the paper, and saw him doing the right thing. My takeaway is doing the right thing when nobody is watching is a true sign of Integrity. In this case and in many of ours, people are watching to see if we do the right thing.

I would love to hear from the rest of you on what Integrity mean to you.

Integrity

I” stands for initiative. Take the initiative to do the right thing even when no one else will know.

“N” stands for nurturing. Nurture others through the quality of your actions even when no one else will know.

“T” stands for teamwork. Teamwork is service before self even when no one else will know.

“E” stands for excellence. Excellence in all we do even when no one else will know.

“G” stands for giving. Giving 110 percent even when no one else will know.

“R” stands for respect. Respect each other even when no one else will know.

“I” stands for intelligence. Be intelligent by knowing your job better than anyone, even when no one else will know.

“T” stands for true. Be true to the best that’s in you even when no one else will know.

And “Y” stands for you. You and I can make a difference even when no one else will know

“In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.”

 Warren Buffet
CEO, Berkshire Hathaway

“I am different from [George] Washington; I have a higher, grander standard of principle. Washington could not lie. I can lie, but I won’t.”

— Mark Twain

Tommy

Coaches are considered leaders and leaders are people that can “organize a group of people to achieve a common goal by providing direction, purpose, and motivation”. Some of the most successful coaches and leaders are great motivators.

With the professional basketball playoffs starting this week, I thought I would share some motivational quotes from some of the most successful basketball coaches in history.

 “Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory.” -Bill Russell quote

“The American dream, to me, means having the opportunity to achieve, because I don’t think you should be guaranteed anything other than opportunity.”-Lenny Wilkens

“Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.” — Pat Riley

“Great effort springs naturally from great attitude.” — Pat Riley

And finally my favorite:

“There are only two options regarding commitment; you’re either in or you’re out. There’s no such thing as life in-between.” — Pat Riley

Have a great day – Will

The origins of the children’s story about the little engine that pulled a stranded train over difficult terrain aren’t exactly clear, but the story is believed to have first appeared around 1906.  Although there have been many iterations of this tale, the underlying theme is always the same.

In the story, a long train of freight cars needs to be pulled up and over a steep hill.  When the train cars ask the larger engines to make the trip, they all make excuses about why the job is too difficult.  They won’t even try.  But, when the much smaller , little blue engine is asked, he simply replies, “I think I can!” and it is this attitude that pulls the chain of train cars up and over that difficult incline.

A person’s belief about their capabilities to achieve a goal is called Self-Efficacy.  A person with a higher self efficacy will take on greater risks, have higher motivation and recover more quickly after failures or setbacks.  People with low self-efficacy, on the other hand, avoid difficult tasks and can become stressed or depressed after not accomplishing goals.

With this in mind, I challenge everyone not to be like the bigger trains that just made excuses that the job was too difficult; but be like the “Little Engine Who Could.”  Believe in yourself and your abilities to be great and soon you will be saying, “I think I can, I think I can and I KNOW I CAN!”

There would be no limit on how great our company can be if we all have this mindset.

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!   LaTessa

This morning at the home office we will be holding a “Role Playing” meeting with several Money Matters team members.  Studies show that companies that continually engage in role-playing are more likely to outperform their non role-playing competitors.  I have already seen first hand the benefits of role playing so, going forward, it will be something our companies practice regularly.

Why do we role play?

• Builds Confidence – When your team role-plays, you can throw any number of situations at them.  Role-playing provides a safe environment to encounter these scenarios for the first time, which builds confidence in team members.  This is especially vital to new team members.
• Develops Listening Skills – Good role-playing requires good listening skills.  In addition to understanding the words the other person is saying, it’s important to pay attention to body language and non-verbal clues.  Better to have your team develop these skills while role-playing than when they’re trying to perform in the real world.
• Creative Problem-Solving – No matter how outlandish a situation you create in a controlled environment, generally, something even more bizarre is bound to happen on the job.  Role-playing will at least give your team the chance to get some experience in handling difficult situations and in developing creative problem-solving skills.

The fifth component of our Values Statement is “Customer Service”.  In order to provide “Championship Customer Service” we feel that it is crucial for our team to regularly engage in role-playing.  —  Luke

“Every contact we have with a customer influences whether or not they’ll come back. We have to be great every time or we’ll lose them.” ~ Kevin Stirtz

I hope each of you have an awesome Good Friday and get to spend some quality time with your families during the upcoming Easter weekend!!

Rachel

We are having our Money Matters P&L review  today at the home office.  Although we will cover all of our values during the meeting, most of our focus will be on Productivity- Team members will be measured and rewarded by the effectiveness of their productivity.  Our P&L statements are the measuring stick we use to gauge the effectiveness of our productivity.  Your district managers will be holding P&L meetings on the district level over the next few days.  As you review your financials I encourage you to always look for accomplishments to celebrate and areas for improvement.

The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining. –John F. Kennedy

Have a great day….Louis

This time of year Spring fever hit us all. I can’t wait to get out in the yard and get my garden ready for planting. It takes work, planning and persistent effort to make a garden grow. You have to plant the seed and cultivate it to have a successful harvest. You can’t just drop a seed on the ground and walk away and expect anything to grow without effort and hard work.

With growth beginning in every store it is funny how growing a garden and cultivating a customer have so much in common.

1. Planning: Just as with a garden, you have to have a plan to grow your store. Local marketing, mailers, flyers, referrals, and calls to those paid out customers are a good start.
2. Planting: When a potential customer calls or walks in your store, that is the time to plant the seed.  With great customer service and going the extra mile to do the loan, you have begun the process.  Once that seed it planted, it is now time to make sure that it grows.
3. Making it Grow, and keeping it growing: You have to put in the work to make sure your growth is strong. Buy developing a strong relationship with your customer.  Having great customer service, closing the loan correctly, holding the customer accountable, and offering all of our products.  Asking for referrals and maximizing the loan will continue to make sure your growth is strong.
4.  Reaping the rewards: When planning is done correctly and the correct effort is given the results will be bountiful.

Now is the time to plant your garden. So have a plan, plant the seed, make it grow and reap the rewards.

Tommy

‘Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”

Benjamin Franklin

Training is a very important part of the onboarding process. If people do not know what they are doing they will lose confidence in themselves and lose confidence in their organization. In the book “Winning”, by Jack Welch, I found this excerpt in reference to training in Chapter Seven.

“It (training) motivates people by showing them a way to grow, that the company cares, and that they have a future. If you are doing it right, they will want to make that future with you.”

I would like to give a special thanks to Christy and Susan at Fayette, Stephanie at Demopolis, and Angela at Baldwyn. I have received really positive feedback about your assistance with training new employees, and we appreciate you going the extra mile in the training process.

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”

-Benjamin Franklin

Have a great weekend! -Will