Bob Paff

It is so easy these days to be connected, next-door or across the ocean. A simple click sends our thoughts to the far corners of the globe and lets our loved ones know we care about them. So if it truly is this easy – and I believe it is – why don’t we do it more often? Or for those of you who do, why don’t we do it more efficiently or with more purpose? I think we do it without thinking. We just click and send, and off go our messages.

On several occasions in 2011, I wrote about how people feel less connected to each other and, quite frankly, less connected to anything! Sitting at a traffic light this week, I noticed a bumper sticker that read, “I love my country but it may be time to start seeing other people.” I’m not at all surprised someone created it – perhaps some lonely soul, or the voice of someone expressing the views of millions, or even billions, of lost or unconnected people.

We read and hear every day about closings, downsizings, layoffs, foreclosures, bankruptcies, tragedy and mayhem. It’s everywhere like never before, certainly not in my lifetime. So why do we still feel so isolated? There is a proliferation of online ways to connect or even find the love of your life! If you don’t believe me, ask your friends, or log onto Match.com (or any other such site) and see for yourself. We’re busy, we’re frustrated, and we’re too broke or disinterested to hang out in bars hoping to meet Mr. or Miss Right – we have a better statistical chance of hitting the lottery! Maybe we feel too isolated in our suffering that no one will understand or want to hear our drama. I’m certain the answers lie in a combination of all the above and some I don’t know.

My challenge to all of you is, as you start 2012 and make New Year’s resolutions and commit that this is going to be your “break-out year,” start by effectively using your social media connections in a more positive, productive way. We all know that Facebook is more for personal use, and many folks use this medium to post pictures and keep each other up-to-date on their daily activities. For me, it truly is too time-consuming and challenging. All I know about “cut and paste” is how to spell them! I see my friends and associates using Facebook to promote their businesses. While one could argue that all publicity is good, there are better uses of time, as well as other media, like LinkedIn, that would be a much better outlet.

Photo taken at the incomparable Pazo by Dean Alexander at http://www.deanalexander.com

Since LinkedIn is my platform of choice, let me share some advice. While I profess to having close to 1,000 LinkedIn connections all over the world, I can also say that I have personally reached out to connect with each one. Nothing mystifies me more than sending or receiving a request to connect, and never hearing from that person again! Come on, folks! Look for the purpose of your connection. Is this person someone who can add value to your business or life?

Let’s go back to the age of civility, when we said ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and ‘how may I help.’ Don’t reach out just for the sake of being connected or to achieve bragging rights to 500-plus contacts! If you are truly interested in connecting with someone, tell them why, invite them for coffee, establish some online correspondence. At the very least, thank them for accepting your connection or for reaching out to you. Please acknowledge the time and effort they put into looking at your profile and feeling compelled to reach out to you.

I believe there are no mistakes in life. Your challenge, in 2012 and beyond, is to see the purpose in life’s daily events. When opportunity presents itself, what will you do with it? Will you even recognize it?

Now, go back to all your LinkedIn or Facebook or Meetup contacts and introduce yourself! Do it now, do it today – just do it! “Better late than never,” the saying goes. Eat some crow and say, “I was going through my contacts and noticed I never reached out to meet you.” How hard is that? You have my word that by doing that, at the very least you’ll add more “friends” to your Rolodex this year. And who knows, maybe you’ll just increase your bottom line!

Connect with me on LinkedIn.

If you speak to Joe the Plumber and others on Main Street, they will tell you we are already in the midst of the economic meltdown. It seems like the worse the problem gets, the more money the government attempts to throw at it. To add insult to injury, I just read that AIG is suing the government for bailing out the ailing insurer, claiming it was unconstitutional in doing so! Thomas Jefferson must be turning in his grave on a daily basis these days.

While few Washington insiders claim to have any business experience, the leading Republican candidate, Mitt Romney makes a compelling argument that his business acumen is just what this country needs. Romney does hold the distinction of having both a law degree and a Master’s in Business Administration from Harvard University. Honestly, while few seem to be head-over-heels for Mitt, his challengers cannot claim similar experience and can only take pot shots at his hatchet man image while running Bain Capital.

At least two candidates exited the race in the past few weeks. Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman and former Texas Governor Rick Perry both decided their candidacies were more figments of their imaginations and egos then anything else. Huntsman has jumped on the Romney bandwagon, while Perry now supports Newt Gingrich, another polarizing candidate to say the least. Gingrich has seen his appeal seesaw from initial euphoria to tanking to a recent resurrection in South Carolina. Former Senator Rick Santorum is now claiming victory in Iowa and holding himself out as the true party and conservative favorite. And then we have Ron Paul, a candidate who stirs excitement in both young and old, with some radical, long-held ideas that strike a chord with those tired of both a country and an economy struggling to find their ways. Sadly for the Paul camp, he stands no real chance of being elected but has publicly committed to staying in the race. His only hope could be to influence change within the party and create a platform for the minority few who follow him.

The other Republican candidates have attempted to paint him as somewhat of a kook with radical ideas, like eliminating much of the federal government and dramatically cutting the defense budget. Paul simply does not have the national appeal it takes to mount a presidential campaign. Dare I say he does not “look” presidential enough – a sad but accurate comment, as we live in an era of sound bytes and photo ops, neither of which favor Ron Paul. Quite frankly I’m more than a little disgusted with both sides. More of the same partisan politics and less of any sense of reality of what Americans deal with on a daily basis. Here in Maryland, we are knee-deep in a Democratic stronghold and facing the possibility of more tax increases. You do reach a point of diminishing return where there is truly just no more to give.

For most Americans, it’s all rather sad and short on optimism. The pulse of the country tells us we have lost faith in the best and brightest. We have lost faith in their ability to guide us out this mess, restore our reputation around the world, and set us on a course of economic balance, if not true prosperity. Where have all the leaders gone?

It’s hard to get excited about an election that seems more and more to be defined by who can spin the most convincing story and deflect negative attention. Feeling helpless, we take it to the street in the forms of Occupy Wall Street and other grassroots organizations, and blooming political groups like the Tea Party.

As always, the answers lie in the true incomparable American spirit and our own willingness and ability to make things happen. Since the pain is felt so heavily on Main Street, it has to be Main Street that turns it around. Small business is truly the backbone of the economy, and with few to no politicians having any sense of the risk involved in being a small business owner, is it realistic for us to expect them to have the answers? Hell, they don’t even know the questions!

Did anyone see the January 13th article in the Business section of the Baltimore Sun, where several high-level government officials were bullish on the housing market and saw no problems on the horizon? “We are unlikely to see growth being derailed by the housing market,” said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. And Federal Governor Kevin Warsh said, “I consider the debt capital markets to be incredibly robust.” All of this was said in December 2006. Hard to believe? Not when you consider the bubble most of these bureaucrats live in. Take it to the streets America, it’s truly the only solution.

My foggy crystal ball tells me that we will re-elect Mr. Obama, if for no other reason than he’s the devil we know versus the devil we don’t. Romney looks too patrician, almost too presidential, and the Democrats will effectively paint him as a silver-spoon son of great wealth and influence who is clearly out of touch with everyday America. You certainly can’t make the argument that Romney knows what it’s like to struggle! So, with Obama being safely elected to serve his second and final term, the process will start all over again, and the partisan politics will continue until things eventually start to turn around and they all jockey to take credit. The answers, my friends, lie on Main Street, not Wall Street or Pennsylvania Avenue. Look for new ways to reinvent yourself and discover your own solutions for a way out. Maybe, just maybe, Washington can take a page from your book.

Bob Paff

On occasion, I find myself enjoying the Happy Hour at Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion in the Inner Harbor East area. I must say, that area almost feels like you’re on vacation without ever leaving Baltimore! There’s no other place like it in the city. Upscale shops, pretty people, sail boats, water, tall buildings, everything you need and expect when you’re looking to escape for a few days – or in my case, just a few hours!

More about Roy’s and the outstanding, “yes we get it, yes we care” staff that Managing Partner Bryson Keens has assembled. I’m not a high roller, business traveler or working off the company expense account, but every time I walk in to Roy’s, I and everyone else I see are made to feel like royalty by Bobby and Greg behind the bar. Even on a crowded night, which happens frequently at Roy’s, Bobby and Greg have my favorite drink waiting at the bar as I wade my way through the crowd. They are pleasant and efficient without being bothersome or overbearing. The entire bar staff is knowledgeable about the menu and open and honest about making recommendations.

I have to admit to having become a Roy’s ambassador! My friends and associates hear me say all the time, “have you been to Roy’s Happy Hour?” Folks, when you find a good thing, especially in this economic climate, you really want to embrace and celebrate it! And, I might add, learn from it. What do they do at Roy’s that makes everyone feel so welcome and special? Does it start from Bryson and work its way down? Is it a corporate culture of the parent company of Roy’s? Whatever it is, it’s working, and I wanted to take a little time to celebrate that culture and point out Roy’s for doing something right!

This leads me to the next local dynasty that seems to have a market cornered on great food, service, ambiance and reputation. I’m talking about the Foreman-Wolf group that owns Pazo, Charleston, Chingiale, Petit Louise, Bin 604, etc. Everything these folks touch seems to turn to gold. Good for them, and good for Baltimore! The additional beauty is this is a local group made up of acclaimed chef Cindy Wolf and wine connoisseur and marketing genius Tony Foreman. I should add that Cindy is really a “world-acclaimed” chef and Tony is assisted by a fabulous marketing team led by Allison Parker-Abromitis. One thing I preach is building a strong team and empowering them to do their job!

My story here is about Charleston’s, Cindy Wolf’s jewel in the entire crown. I had taken my daughter Olivia there years ago for her 13th birthday, and now that same little girl just turned 19! I had business reasons to be back at Charleston recently and was reminded of the special time Olivia and I had. I made the reservation to return to the scene of our special night for #19. Where does that time go? The night of our dinner was Monday, October 26, and the restaurant was hosting a big wine tasting event. From the second we were ushered in the front door, Olivia was warmly greeted with Happy Birthday! We were shown to the room just to the left of the lobby area, where a table of 8-10 businessmen were enjoying their evening. Not exactly the venue I was hoping for to spend a quiet night celebrating my daughter’s birthday. When I requested something a little more quiet and intimate, our host immediately complied and took us to the beautiful room in the front – it faces Lancaster Street and was the same room where we spent Olivia’s 13th birthday dinner. From the time we were expertly seated, to the final presentation of a birthday candle with her dessert, the evening could not have been more special, perfect and enjoyable. I have told many, including the world-famous chef herself, that this was the best meal I have ever eaten. Olivia agreed!

While these two fine dining establishments are really quite different, they share at least a few common commitments: treat their guests like family, make the evening a “dining experience,” and allow people to escape the frustrations and stresses of their world, if only for a few hours. It’s the little things like knowing someone’s name, remembering their drink preference or acknowledging their birthday. It’s these things that keep people coming back even in challenging economic times. People may buy less or go out less frequently, but when they do, every business out there is competing for the same dollar. Give yourself the upper hand in their selection process by making the experience all about your guest! Kudos to Bryson and his staff at Roy’s and to Cindy, Tony and Allison, and their fine staff at Charleston’s for leading the charge on Doing It Right!

While I promise not to end on a bad note, I have to point out a coaching moment I had recently while grocery shopping at Fresh and Green, the successor to the failed chain of Super Fresh. I live in the city and shopped at the Super Fresh on 40th Street for years. When Fresh and Green took over the store, I was more then a little skeptical. The process was slow, and what one might describe as the amateur hour: the store in disarray, and employees seeming uncertain and lost. Not a real confidence builder for the community! I actually strayed from there for a while and shopped at other chains, but secretly longed to come back to my neighborhood store. Little by little, it appeared to get better, but the staff is still in a cloud. Maybe it’s the lack of job security. I don’t pretend to know much about the chain of Fresh and Green, but I will say if all their checkout folks are like the one I had on Sunday morning, Fresh and Green will be Stale and Brown by next year!

I walked into the store on a Saturday night around 8:00 with absolutely no one in the checkout lines. I did not grab a cart or basket, intending to buy “just a few things.” Famous last words for all of us at one time or another! Within the first five minutes, I came to regret my decision and seek the closest cart or small basket. Here’s where the problem comes in! Looking totally helpless with my arms full of stuff and needing more, I asked the young man behind the customer-less checkout counter if there were any baskets or carts close by. He informed me they are kept by the front door only, and that was all – he turned and looked away! My immediate reaction was that he could have at least offered to help by getting me a cart or basket or asking me if I would like to put some things down on his counter while I retrieved one. He did neither. Off I went, annoyed by wanting to finish and get out.

When it came time to check out I noticed the person next to me had in her cart some deli cheese, which I had neglected to get, thinking the deli counter was closed! When I asked the not-so-pleasant-or-helpful young man what time the deli counter, closed he quite proudly told me he did not know other people’s schedules, as it was all he could do to remember his own! Thankfully upon hearing this, a cashier next to me offered to call the deli to find out, which he proceeded to do. After he hung up, I asked him what time they opened in the morning (feeling bad I did not ask while he was on the phone!). Not at all annoyed, he called back and got me the information. Not satisfied with his own ignorance, my young friend proceeded to go on about how it is not their job to know other peoples schedules. By now, the father and entrepreneur in me had had enough! So I suggested to my young friend that perhaps he should make it his business to know these things in the event another customer inquires! Still, he seemed uninterested and actually annoyed. Point probably lost to him forever…

While working in a restaurant or grocery store may not be your final or dream job, it may indeed be your current job. And while it is, take a line from arguably the best president this country has ever had, Abraham Lincoln, who said, “whatever you are, be a good one.” You never know when the next opportunity may walk into your establishment and offer you the job or deal of a lifetime. Open yourself to those moments! And if you cannot give 100% to your employer, who gives you 100% of your salary, do it for yourself. Learn as much as you can while you’re there, if only to prepare you for the next event that will undoubtedly come along in your life. It’s all about the journey, folks, not the destination. The next time you are as fortunate as I was to stumble upon a coaching moment like this, take advantage of it. I have six children – four boys, two girls – I would want someone to “teach” them a life lesson if so presented! So while Roy’s and Charleston’s lead the way, we can all find others who are out there Doing It Right!

Bob Paff

While the average guy on the street has lost not only hope, but his job, his house, his dignity and pride, high level bankers and others are still lining the Valet Parking line at the country club and every fancy resturuant in town. Sales at Tiffany and other high end retailers have been going up. How do we justify or even balance this in the face of so much despair and bewilderment? Truthfully, we don’t, we can’t, it don’t make no sense, as Joe The Plumber might say!

What it does is widen the gap between have and have not and further push the shrinking middle to lower middle class into a new population sector. Let’s call them the disenfranchised! They are everyone you see on the street, in the mall and at the gas station wondering who in the hell knows what’s going on and will come along to right this sinking ship.

My teller friend has a solution. She tells me privately as I make my $92 dollar deposit that she doesn’t trust any “of them”.  ” Them” as though some Russian spy or strain of the Avian Flu. What we need to do, she tells me is start “cutting ” from the top down. Take the guys in charge who travel in limousines, have security detail and get $800,000 cash bonuses and plop them down in Anywhere USA for 6 months. Let them live like the bank teller and her husband, struggling to make ends meet while raising children and the children of their children! Some do this in addition to taking care of parents too!  Only when the folks in castles, ivory towers and sky scrapers can really walk in the average guys shoes can he feel the sadness, frustration and pain many Americans feel.

We all know by know that Treasury Secretary Geithner was virtually booed and chased out of Europe by Finance Ministers worldwide at a recent Economic Summit. The Austrian Finance Minister was particularly incensed and told Mr. Geithner, ” why should we listen to you “. It’s ugly out there boys and girls and a betting man does not see change on the horizon anytime soon.
I think my teller has valid points and we know that desperate times call for desperate measures. When do the ones responsible for all this blundering get to face a jury of the masses, not their peers! We know how that would play out.

Last time I wrote about being NICE might be the new paradigm shift. Truth is, all else has failed or we just cannot find anything to be nice about!

I here a call and charge to faith, religion and spirituality! It can’t hurt.

Bob Paff

 Okay, so I must admit, while the breakfast is good, I’m tired of spending $15 for an omelet or $10 for the cheapest thing on the menu at Miss Shirley’s. Times are tough and they call for tough measures! I think the food’s good but not great. What you do pay for there is the “dining experience” as much as that can be for breakfast.

Let’s take our hats off to Eddie Dopkin at the folks at Miss Shirley’s. They put on a great show. The venue is crisp and inviting, as fancy a breakfast experience you will ever have in Baltimore. You would have to travel all the way to Eggspectations in Columbia to even come close. Dopkin really understands that having any meal is an event, otherwise who would pay the freight for bacon and eggs! His concept has been so successful that there are now 2 more Miss Shirley’s, one in downtown Baltimore and one in Annapolis. Let’s raise a mimosa to Eddie! he’s a man after our own heart, just not our wallet!

Now this leads me to my point. Several years ago and for reasons that immediately escape me, I gave up on Cafe Hon. Hon was the first real breakfast experience in the area before Miss Shirley’s ever came along. They pride themselves on serving a nice hot, inexpensive breakfast with a lot of local flavor. Hon, want coffee with that order! Nice size portions, cake and pie, local Ballmore nostalgia! Now we even have a Hon Fest every year right down on the Avenue……………Hon!

So with the economic changes going on I thought I would return to the Cafe Hon and give it a second try. I have to say I have been 3 times in the last month or so, once with my nine year old daughter Isabel, before suggesting to a friend that we meet there this past Saturday. We plan to meet at 8, a reasonable time for breakfast. she arrives before I do and tells me that they are closed! Closed, on a Saturday morning at 8, when half of Baltimore, certainly half of Hampden and Roland Park is looking for breakfast! Can’t be! I walk to the door, look in the window, look for a posting of the hours…………….nothing!

Well this is odd, could they really be closed? My friend and I look in the window and spot two young ladies standing at the counter, appearing to look into the cash register. We wave, we gently knock, we wave, we wait and wait and wait……………….and knock! Now we’re just……………………..mad!

Are they really standing there, ignoring us, hoping we’ll go away? Imagine, times are tough, people are losing their jobs, businesses are closing, banks aren’t lending money, you know the drill! And all we want is a nice hot, cheap breakfast. We want to give them our $10 and get some change. Remember, I’m a reformed Miss Shirley’s customer.

We stand there what seemed like forever but probably 2 minutes before we said, the hell with this, let’s go to Roland Park Bagel, another Dopkin eating establishment. You think Eddie had a hand in this?? I told my friend, it really doesn’t matter, I’m always looking for fresh material to write about. No sooner I get into my car that I fire off a quick note on my Blackberry! Here’s the point, much like we said weeks ago that ties in very nicely. The answer is always YES! The customer is always right.

Can you or any other business owner really afford the luxury of turning business away and run the risk of guys like me writing about it? Maybe, just maybe we want to spend sometime ” training and coaching ” our employees on the nuances of customer service. How do we get them to walk in the shoes of the customer if not, more preferably, the business owner? The idea here is that all this starts from the top down. What’s your culture? What example do you as the employer set for your team? Have you done the Walk of Excellence, in your business lately? Oh, the Walk of Excellence is one of many talks I have developed that allows you to shine the light on what you’re doing right…and wrong! You have to take that walk every day. And your employees, associates, team members, have to take it with you. And if you don’t, that cheap breakfast will end up costing you a fortune as your customers seek food, drink and comfort at some other fine establishment down the street or across town!

My friends, fellow entrepreneurs…………………..Wake Up and Smell the Coffee!

Bob Paff

Have we really become so insensitive and unkind that we need books to tell us how and why to be nice? Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval wrote a book a few years back called, The Power of Nice, How to Conquer the Business World with Kindness. Thaler and Koval run a successful New York Advertising Agency called The Kaplan Thaler Group. Our own local, celebrity agent and attorney Ron Shapiro wrote a similar book called, The Power of Nice: How to Negotiate So Everyone Wins, Especially You! The Thaler Koval book is a total of 127 pages, including the the index in the back! Not Rocket Science but powerful in its simplicity none the less.

I’m reminded of that other expression we overlook, “Common Things Not Commonly Done”. Their power house New York Agency represents the rich and powerful like Donald Trump. Thaler talks about getting Trump’s business because they were “nice” to wife #3, or maybe it was #2, who can keep up with The Donald! While I do recommend you read this book I think you can get the same results by just doing what your grandmother told you years ago. Do your job and put a smile on that face! Did you know it takes more effort and is more detrimental to your health to frown rather then smile? Now that alone is enough incentive to start now.

For those of you saying, okay Bob, what about the bottom line, let’s look at the results of NICE. Nice people are luckier in love, Nice makes money, Nice is healthier, Nice spends less time in court. Remember the study of doctors who apologize for their mistakes being sued less frequently then their defiant colleagues? Renowned authors like Daniel Goleman (Primal Leadership) and Malcolm Gladwell (The Power of Thinking Without Thinking) all have done research to support the facts that Nice people in general fair better then those less civil and pleasant! A University of Michigan study shows that those who are good neighbors, friends, volunteers have a 60% lower rate of premature death. Now we’re getting serious! Do we think of Nice as a life or death option??  Friends, I know there is something here for all of us. If your motivated by money, greed, power, living, you want to start being Nice……………….now!

So if the studies, books, famous authors and speakers tell us to play nice boys and girls, why don’t we do it? Seems to me to be an easy home run. You don’t need an advanced degree, or a degree at all, to be successful at this one. No face lift, liposuction, exercise routine, counting calories, late night studying, you get the picture! We know that for something to become habit forming we must do it 1000 times or for 6 months. Here’s my challenge. As I said before, start NOW, start TODAY. Pick a number you can handle on a daily basis and find things you can do to show your NICENESS!

I tell my audiences, do 10 nice things every day. For example, simple yet very effective, tell someone you like a particular color on them, that’s a great outfit, how can I help you today? Walk in the other man or woman’s shoes. Treat someone to lunch, make someone else look good today. Give the credit away! Attend a religious service. Surround yourself with NICE PEOPLE! Who wants to be with the downers? Life is challenging enough without more negative energy.

Give your employees the Nice Challenge. Incent them for being nice to your customers! Imagine that, we have to create incentives to be nice. Children do it innately. Maybe we should all act like children! No, that won’t work, too many adults do that already, with less then stellar consequences! I do think if we were a kinder, gentler society, always put the other guy/gal first, we would be more prosperous, less defensive, certainly less stressed out. What we do is just simply not working. Let’s give NICE a try. Change happens one person at a time, one country at a time, one business at a time. Fact is that in any relationship, if one person changes, the dynamics of the relationship change. While you cannot change or control others, you have absolute power to change YOU! What are you waiting for? Be NICE to me and let me know how this is working for you, good or bad. Tell me your struggles to be nice. Bob, I just cannot do it! Maybe your grandmother was nice but mine was a tyrant. Okay, so you have more work to do, but you can get…………………..there, one SMILE at a time!

Be Nice in the sandbox of life!

Bob Paff

Is the general consensus in Baltimore that while Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is widely considered to lack leadership, vision or enthusiasm for the job, she’s the “devil we know for the devil we don’t,” as the saying goes? The other “also-rans” never really caught on with the possible spike to voter interest in Otis Rolley. As they trolled to the end, all the candidates seemed to get caught up in their own personal implosion. All seemed to have an issue or two that mysteriously made its way into the headlines!

As the country struggles on all levels – political, economic, social – we seem desperate for change, but clueless as to what it looks like. Too much fear of upsetting the apple cart or no viable candidates on the horizon to motivate, inspire and lead us… somewhere… anywhere but where we are! This isn’t working at any level, and yet we continue to do the same thing. Perhaps everyone is caught up in dealing with their own private hells and just trying to survive that we can’t possible take on someone else’s issues! “Let the other guy fix it, I don’t have time.”

And why is it that the very people we think should get into public service never seem to do so? Rudy Giuliani was just in Charm City last week to keynote the Small Business Survival Summit. He talked about the anniversary of 9/11 and how it changed him – and us for that matter – forever. Giuliani is a no-nonsense, unfiltered guy who has shown his love and compassion for our country. The problem is, guys like that rarely get elected. True business guys and gals would have no appetite for the public bureaucracy and red tape, an inefficiency that plagues government. I can almost hear the voices from any government building or agency saying, “we close at five” or “that’s not my job.” Is it too much to ask for government to be run like a business? Herein lies that problem: Whose business is it? Who has skin in the game? Where’s the risk to go with the reward? Who has the power to make decisions regardless of what’s popular? The list goes on but you see where I’m headed!

This chronic problem will not go away until the electorate rises up or more incentive is created for business-minded folks to go into public service. Until that time, we’ll have the same folks vying for jobs that they can coast through until the possibility of cashing out in the private sector or, most likely, coasting into retirement and a fat government pension. Does Sheila Dixon really get something like $90,000 a year for life as a former disgraced mayor? I think she does! Who thought that would be money well spent?

Should we be hopeful that Mayor Rawlings-Blake will get her second wind, have an epiphany or start taking ginseng and Centrum One-A-Day High Performance in her first real term? What hope or experience do we have that might ever happen? And so, I ask you, another blown chance or just none available? Don’t complain, Baltimore, when four years from now, streets are dirty, crime is up, schools are broken, residents are leaving and we’re left with the same cast of characters, expecting a different result!

For those of us who were born and raised in the city and remember the “Do it Now” mantra of William Donald Schaefer, we know it’s possible. That’s the heartbreaker. Schaefer created a mold that no one has been able to fill since he left. He always said being Mayor of Baltimore was his favorite job. Are we sure he had no kids? Let’s start turning over stones to find that Schaefer clone!

Bob Paff

The crowd was treated to real-life pearls of business wisdom from such notables as Alan Elkin of Advanced Business Systems, Rick Huether of Independent Can Company,Ken Potter of AgraCo Technologies International and Bob Wolfgang of Wolfgang Candy Company. It was my pleasure to moderate the panel. While these men represent different industries, have varied backgrounds and interest, common threads continuously resonated throughout the comments they shared. Words like ‘integrity,’ ‘commitment,’ ‘teamwork,’ and ‘loyalty’ were used consistently. These legends had no advance knowledge of the questions the audience or I would ask, and yet their answers were eerily similar.

One in particular that stands out is the difference between employees now and employees who started working for their companies years ago. Work ethic is a struggle for many small business owners trying to hire today. In spite of the fact that the unemployment rate sits at 9.1 percent, many Americans simply refuse to do what they deem a “menial task” such as domestic, custodial or other blue-collar jobs. The conclusion: many would rather sit home and collect a check than put in an honest day’s work!

A testament to the dedication these entrepreneurs have to their business, employees and family: when I informed them attendance might be low for their 75-minute session, Alan Elkin said, “if it’s only two people, they still deserve a good show.” It was then I knew the crowd was in for a real treat!

What the audience and I heard from these men was total dedication to customers and employees. Ken Potter and his wife even paid for and provided legal and financial services to their employees free of charge! Elkin has one employee who has been with him for more then 40 years (whose name is not Elkin). Treat your employees like family, and they will never leave. Rick Huether said in the event a layoff occurred, it was a Huether family member let go before and employee was given a pink slip.

On more then one occasion, these modest, soft-spoken men received spontaneous applause from the audience. My sense is the crowd could really hearken back to a bygone era where the philosophy these men live by was a badge of honor for all companies. Almost gone are the days when any employee is still around after 15, 20, or 25 years, let alone 40!

The evening ended with a spectacular video from the event producer, VPC and its President Eli Eisenberg. From the second the crowd entered the ballroom, they were overcome by a sense of the patriotism and grassroots struggles that drive so many to turn this economy around, as only small business can do. The event idea itself was the brainchild of small business owners Pat and PJ Chambers and Web IXI, a small web design firm in Harford County.  Tired of the legislative and regulatory handcuffs put on many business owners, the Chambers felt compelled to step up to the plate.

While first year events are always a struggle to pull together, particularly in a down economy, the hope is the event will grow in size and stature. Fortunately for events like this, there is a need for small business owners to share ideas and best practices, in economies good or bad.

Noticeable by their absence were any of the mayoral candidates or, for that matter, anyone in local civic leadership positions. Who is the candidate waving the, “I’m for small business” flag? A huge disappointment but not an entirely surprising one, as I have touched on in previous messages. For Baltimore to turn things around, we cannot have more of the same lip service. My sense is the audience at this forum would have rather had anyone of these four business leaders running the city than the crop we put up to run!

Let’s hope that the founders of this event can in fact regroup, restructure and assemble their team to tackle this again next year. Much like the Grand Prix, first performances can be the most difficult. Is there an Off Broadway audience for events like this?

Bob Paff

Some thoughts for you to ponder: Who are my regular customers and clients, and more importantly, why? What is it is about my product or service that keeps them coming back? Have you ever asked? Is this a market base that can sustain and support the growth or expansion you want? Lots of questions in my comments today are really designed to shift your paradigm, awaken the entrepreneurial spirit that got you here in the first place and maybe spark some new sales or certainly new ideas.

Using the sports metaphors we have all come to know and love, are you “playing up?” Hanging out and around with those as good or preferably better then you? Who’s on your team? Who has a vested interest in your success? Look around and see whom you can ask to play on your team. Perhaps your second baseman is nearing retirement and just does not have the fighting spirit he or she once had. Time to go the farm system, at least the bench. Give that second string player a chance to step up to the plate and show you their stuff. Put me in the game, Coach! Starting to see a pattern here?

I challenge you today and every day to ask one new person a day to be on your team. Call, have breakfast or lunch with somebody new who can bring business to you, directly or indirectly. Maybe they don’t need your services but know someone who does. When was the last time you looked someone in the eye and said, “I would love to do business with you, is that possible?”

What’s your fear, rejection? In fact, if you don’t ask, isn’t the answer always no? Stretch out of your comfort zone and ask those who may not even be obvious to you, for their help. Evaluate your players, your customers, your prospects. Maybe it’s time to cut some less then stellar performers. Time to give away some gold watches and say ‘thanks for the memories!’

I challenge you today! Who’s on your team? Who will make a difference in your business tomorrow? Later on, we’ll talk about how you play on other teams. Let’s knock it out of the park. After all, it’s good for everyone if you succeed!

Bob Paff