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Who knew I’d need a hard hat when I got to the hotel last night. Workers were finishing up their day of renovating the Marriott near Taunton, MA. Walked under some ladders; thankfully there were no black cats running around. Anyway, the hotel is pretty outdated and if notice, that must mean something. My wife says I don’t notice things – like the color of her eyes. I beg to differ. They’re green, er – brown… Best I get back to the subject at hand.

“It sucks being the smartest person in the room!” Someone said that to me once. Those were his words verbatim. The problem? There were only two people in the room – him and me – “the dumb one.” At first, I thought he was joking but NO, it wasn’t a joke. It caught me off guard because he wasn’t wearing an “I’m with stupid t-shirt…” Good for you, I thought to myself. When’s the awards ceremony? Is it black tie? Are wives invited? It’s hard to find a good babysitter on short notice.

When I was your age…Ever catch yourself beginning a sentence with these 5 words? When I was your age, I walked to school – uphill each way! When I was your age, I called on 37 accounts a day and worked deep into the night. When I was your age, I had heart and passion and street smarts… Memo: nobody cares! Well, almost nobody.

Do you ever want to throw your arms up in frustration because nobody will listen to you? No, I’m not referring to your children. I’m talking about the professionals you try to coach, manage and lead every day. Try as you may, professionals young and old, experienced and inexperienced, Gen X’rs, Gen Y’s and boomers alike won’t accept your coaching. They avoid you like the plague. They need the coaching and ironically, may even want coaching but your offers to help falls upon deaf ears...

My service recovery award of the week goes to the Chef at Saranello’s. We had dinner Saturday with some friends – including one who has celiac disease. Accordingly, my buddy eats a gluten free diet. If he has glutens, bad things gonna happen digestively - if you know what I mean. So he used what I call the 4 C’s of proper communication.

Jack Rosen was laid to rest last week. This week, instead of sharing some of my lessons, I cede the floor to Uncle Jack for a few business lessons based upon what he taught me. I don’t see anyone writing a - What Would Jack Do? book, like the ones about Steve Jobs; but there is a lot to be learned from this man.

Stop using the airlines as a punching bag! Sure, the negative stories outweigh all others, but I have a positive story to share. Yes, a positive story!

You’re so vain; you probably think this song is about you – don’t you, don’t you? Remember the catchy tune about vanity by the legendary Carly Simon? Despite the fact that I’m usually advising managers to turn their perspective outward, this time I’m going to suggest a little vanity. I’d like you to ask your customers what you’re doing well

Sales professionals typically have a finite list of customers. In other words, the list does not get any bigger! Sure, some businesses will expand, some new businesses will open, but at the same time others will fail.

Mistake 1 in my newest book is “acting like a weenie!” Truth be told – I wanted to use a stronger descriptor for this mistake but, in the end, I let better judgment prevail. Speaking of better judgment, it was nowhere to be found in the following example. A sales professional at one of my distributors was called in by his team leader to deliver some POS to a customer, despite the fact that he (the sales professional) was on vacation