Jamy Bechler

Providing Insights on Leadership and Success. Coach Bechler is a John Maxwell Leadership Team Member.

Who’s On First?

Poor Abbott. Poor Costello. In the classic sketch Who’s On First, they heard each other’s words but just couldn’t seem to understand what each other was saying.

It’s no secret that we all desire to be listened to and we all want to be understood.

I am right. You are wrong. Why should I listen to you? Wait, what?!? You don’t understand what I’m saying? How is that even possible?

In the book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey said, “If you’re like most people you probably seek first to be understood; you want to get your point across. And in doing so, you may ignore the other person completely, pretend that you’re listening, selectively hear only certain parts of the conversation, or attentively focus on only the words being said, but miss the meaning entirely. So why does this happen?”

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Episode 091: Crisis Preparedness Expert Melissa Agnes

Author of Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in an Uncertain World, Melissa Agnes is a leading authority on crisis preparedness, reputation management, and brand protection.  Agnes is a coveted speaker, commentator, and adviser to some of today’s leading organizations faced with the greatest risks.

In 2015, she gave a TEDx talk in Los Angeles where she discussed the secret to successful crisis management in the 21st century. Agnes is the editor of the Crisis Ready Blog, a contributor to Forbes, and a go-to source for the press, with recent coverage including the Wall Street Journal, VIBE Magazine, USA Today, and many others. As a university guest lecturer, Agnes teaches crisis management in university courses around the world, including at NYU and McGill.

In today’s episode, we discuss:
  • The difference between issues and crisis
  • How to prepare for the inevitable crises that will come your way
  • Building your brand on social media
  • What to do when an issue or a crisis occurs
  • How Southwest Airlines and United Airlines handled crises differently

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Overcoming Adversity to Set Records

Drew Brees just became the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yards when he surpassed Peyton Manning in a Monday Night Football game. Brees is surely destined for Canton, Ohio and the Pro Football Hall of Fame once he retires. However, it didn’t look that way when Brees was coming out of Purdue University and was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2001 NFL draft. He was considered too short to be a sure-fire NFL Quarterback. In fact, seven games into his first NFL season, he was unexpectedly thrust into action when the starter got hurt. Brees preceded to fumble the ball the first time he dropped back to pass. In 2006, he tore his rotator cuff and was no longer wanted by his team. New Orleans embraced him and welcomed him. He would reward the team (and city) with their first Super Bowl championship in 2009.

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Culture Is A Choice

“Don’t tell them what you’re going to do – that’s vision.  Do what you’re going to do – that’s culture. Culture eats vision for lunch”.  (John C. Maxwell)

When I first heard this, I wrote it down and thought that it sounded good.  However, the more I thought about that statement the more I started to see the truth of it.

We need both a strong culture and a positive vision to reach our fullest potential.  If I have to choose, however, I will take a strong culture any day of the week over a clear vision.  Even the clearest vision may not be realized if the culture is poor and weighing you down.

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5 Things I Wish I Knew As A Young Coach

As a college basketball coach for nearly 20 years, I had many experiences that I was proud of. But, I also made my share of mistakes, especially early in my career. Now that I have left coaching to work with teams as a leadership trainer and consultant, I look back on my career and offer up five things that I wish I knew when I first started out in coaching.

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Speak like a Champ

“There are two types of speakers: Those who get nervous and those who are liars.” (Mark Twain)

My 6th grade year was coming to a close. It had been a good year.

I had won my fair share of kickball games at recess.  My “Killer B’s” tag team won homemade wrestling belts at our improvised events during lunch.  And maybe most memorably, I received my first kiss from a girl not named “Mom”.

But there was one thing left to do…

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Champions in the White House

“We don’t have to agree on anything to be kind to one another.” (Toby Mac)

One day while I was a high school student, a bunch of us were playing pickup basketball at a nearby gym. I was playing well and doing my fair share of trash talking that day. Finally, my friend had enough of this as some of my verbal barrage was directed at him.

He told us that he didn’t want to play any more and that we all had to leave. You see, he was the one that had the key to the gym and had opened it up for us to play. He literally took his ball and went home. He didn’t have very thick skin and didn’t react to the situation very well. I, on the other hand, was not very respectful as I acted like a punk.

Most of the time, showing respect to people (even those that you don’t think deserve it) is more a reflection of your  character  than it is a reflection of theirs.

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Dead Right

“When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know; but when you listen you may learn something new.” (Dalai Lama)
One day in high school, I was walking down the sidewalk with my mother.  We needed to cross the street.  Instead of going to the intersection and crossing at the cross walk, I decided to do it sooner since I figured I could make it before the next car went by.  My mother grabbed my arm and pulled me back.
“What are you doing?  There are cars coming”, said my mother.
“Don’t worry mom”, I replied confidently.  “Pedestrians have the right of way”.
“Yeah and you’ll be DEAD RIGHT”, she retorted.

Southwest Airlines Puts Employees First

All of us have jobs that we have to wake up for each day.  Do you like this job?  Is it a good place to work with a fun environment?  For one company, a CHAMPIONSHIP CULTURE has been built upon doing things a little different than the norm.

 
Most of us have flown before and have had the unfortunate experience of shutting off our portable electronic devices and listen to an unhappy flight attendance go over passenger information for the millionth time.  But, if you’ve ever flown on a Southwest flight, you may have had a slightly different encounter with a – dare I say – happy employee . . .

Matter of Perspective

“At Harvard they labeled me a jock.  In the NFL they considered me intellectual.” 
(Pat McInally, former NFL player)

 

A story is told of a husband and wife sitting at a table at the husband’s high school reunion.  He keeps staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table.

The wife asked, “Do you know her?”
 
“Yes,” the husband signed, “She’s my old girlfriend.  I understand that she took to drinking right after we split up all those years ago, and I hear she hasn’t stopped since.”
 
“I can’t believe it!” the wife said. “Who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?”

Perspective.  We all see things differently.  Even husbands and wives.  Come to think of it . . . especially husbands and wives! 

Anyways, moving on . . .

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