Golden Rule

Key lesson for team building is the Golden rule !

Marc Anderson grew up in Trenton, a west Tennessee town of five thousand people. He has wonderful memories of those first eighteen years, and many people in Trenton influenced his life in very positive ways. His football coach, Walter Kilzer, taught me the importance of hard work, discipline, and believing in myself. His history teacher, Fred Culp, is still the funniest person he ever met. He taught me that a sense of humor, and especially laughing at yourself, can be one of life's greatest blessings.

But Marc's father was my hero. He taught me many things, but at the top of the list, he taught me to treat people with love and respect...to live the Golden Rule. He remember one particular instance of him teaching this "life lesson" as if it were yesterday. His Dad owned a furniture store, and I used to dust the furniture every Wednesday after school to earn my allowance. One afternoon I observed my Dad talking to all the customers as they came in...the hardware store owner, the banker, a farmer, a doctor. At the end of the day, just as Dad was closing, the garbage collector came in.

I was ready to go home, and I thought that surely Dad wouldn't spend too much time with him. But I was wrong. Dad greeted him at the door with a big hug and talked with him about his wife and son who had been in a car accident the month before. He empathized, he asked questions, he listened, and he listened some more. I kept looking at the clock, and when the man finally left, I asked, "Dad, why did you spend so much time with him? He's just the garbage collector." Dad then looked at me, locked the front door to the store, and said, "Son, let's talk."

He said, "I'm your father and I tell you lots of stuff as all fathers should, but if you remember nothing else I ever tell you, remember this...treat every human being just the way that you would want to be treated." He said, "I know this is not the first time you've heard it, but I want to make sure it's the first time you truly understand it, because if you had understood, you would never have said what you said." We sat there and talked for another hour about the meaning and the power of the Golden Rule. Dad said, "If you live the Golden Rule everything else in life will usually work itself out, but if you don't, your life probably will be very unhappy and without meaning."

Marc recently heard someone say, "If you teach your child the Golden Rule, you will have left them an estate of incalculable value." Truer words were never spoken.

What you just read is one of 28 short chapters in The Power of Attitude. It was titled: "Rule #1...It's Golden."

If you're a fan of Simple Truths, you probably know by now that I love to communicate through stories; stories that can speak to our hearts and bring ideas to life. The Power of Attitude is loaded with great stories that can give you a shot of inspiration when you need it most.
Marc Anderson

This will grab your heart and not let go...
It was a Wednesday afternoon when my assistant came into my office. She said that one of our customers had been waiting on the phone for a while to talk with me. He said it was important.
I picked up the phone and the gentleman on the other end of the phone said, "My name is Pat Shaughnessy and I love your products, but that's not why I'm calling. I'm calling because I just finished a book by VJ Smith titled: The Richest Man in Town." He then said, "Mac, you've got to read this book. I guarantee you that you're not going to like it...you're going to love it."
Now, I'd be lying if I told you that this was the first time a customer had called with what they thought was a great book. And truthfully, they aren't always so great! But there was something about this conversation that told me...this could be different. Pat's enthusiasm was unwavering and when we hung up, I couldn't get it out of my head.
A few days later I purchased a copy of the book. I shut my office door and read it, non-stop. When I finished I just sat there with tears running down my cheeks. Pat "nailed it"...I didn't like it, I loved it!
I then picked up the phone to call the author, VJ Smith. If nothing else, I just wanted to thank him for writing a book that made a positive difference in the world. And the rest, as they say....is history! He was a fan of Simple Truths and said that he loved our products. VJ, who had self-published the book then said, "You're not going to believe this, Mac, but just recently, I told my wife that someday I'd like to partner with a company like Simple Truths who could take my book to the rest of the world."
I believe that some things are meant to be. The Richest Man in Town is a wonderful book. It's a true story that will grab your heart and not let go! All I can say is that I'm honored to make it a part of the Simple Truths "family" of inspirational gift books.
We would like to share VJ Smith's brief introduction to one of my all time favorite books The Richest Man in Town.

"Introduction" from The Richest Man in Town by V.J. Smith
I'm so glad I found you.

My friend, Aaron "Marty" Martinson, wrote those words in a note to me. On the pages that follow, you will discover that he didn't find me. I found him. And, thanks to Marty, I remembered a few things about life that I hadn't really thought about for a long time.

For years I had grand visions of writing a book about a leader who changed the course of history. I filled my personal library with biographies of presidents and statesmen. I wanted to understand what made their lives great - and what might be missing from mine.

In looking for answers I turned to books written by people who are successful in business and industry. For a while I searched for excellence, then I compared my habits to those of highly effective people. Like millions of people, I thought success equaled happiness.

The book I've written, though, is about a simple man who ran a cash register. He worked hard and was good to people. That, in turn, made him happy.

Can it be so simple? so free of complications? Marty thought so. He showed me how to be a better person, not one wealthier or more successful or more powerful.

He changed my life - forever.
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