What Is the Key to Success?

During a recent trip to Florida to participate as a judge in the North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge contest, my wife and I had a unique experience. On the way to Florida, we stayed in the Nashville, Tennessee area and were on our way out of our hotel when we faced a daunting challenge.

As we were entering the elevator from our third-floor room, she handed me the car keys and suggested that I should drive. That was great, except during the handoff, we didn’t quite connect, and the keys went sliding across the hallway. In fact, it was worse than you might imagine.

The keys slid across the hallway and fell down the elevator shaft. Oops! First, the good news – we had a second set of car keys with us, so we were not “car disabled” for four days. However, my Bride quickly reminded me that our house keys were on that set of keys, along with her nice leather key FOB that we had purchased during a trip to Italy…

Please recall that in prior blogs I have advised you to first outline the objective – in this case, recover the keys.

Then, identify the hurdles and find ways to get around them:

·       Hurdle #1 – It was Sunday afternoon, and no elevator company is open on Sunday, so we talked with the Hotel Manager and were advised that the maintenance man might be helpful.

·       Hurdle #2 – The maintenance man was off until Tuesday… Our solution was to talk with him ASAP Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, he had car problems and came in later than usual. Eventually, he was unable to assist us…

·       Hurdle #3 – While constantly checking with the Manager each day, no one had any suggestions or results for us. Remember – Stay the Course!

·       Hurdle #4 – We asked the Manager Wednesday morning if she had heard back from the elevator company. She claimed she had never said she would call the elevator company, but “Let me check with them today.” Sheesh…

·       Hurdle #5 – We needed to head to Florida for the contest I was supposed to judge. Our departure was scheduled for Thursday morning…

·       Hurdle #6 – In response to our request, the Manager said getting the elevator company to come out and recover the keys from the elevator shaft may cost up to $300. Ouch! However, we reasoned, it might cost that much to duplicate our car key and change the door locks on our house.

·       Hurdle #7 – Always the waiting! We set out and took care of other business that was necessary that day. We felt we had initiated the necessary steps to reach a successful outcome.

Lo and behold. When we returned to our hotel on Wednesday evening around 6 pm, the keys were in an envelope at the front desk with no charge from the elevator company. Wow!

What was the key to our success? Perseverance. Even when we had doubts, we stayed on the task at hand, and kindness & success eventually prevailed. The same holds true for you and your business endeavors. Stay focused. Stay engaged with your goal, and you will get there!

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!