World Class Trust

The Importance of Succession Planning

2009-01-15T12:57:00.001-08:00

The news of Apple's CEO Steve Jobs taking medical leave due to a hormonal imbalance ended months of speculation about his medical condition. A gaunt Jobs showed up at an Apple News Conference last fall, vaunting investors' fears that he was of ill health. Jobs, notoriously tight-lipped, would not take questions in regards to his health at the time of the event. He simply went on with his presentation like he always does, only to add fuel to the flames of speculation surrounding his status.

Wall Street-oriented Web sites wrote articles and hosted forum postings about Mr. Jobs' health, and its effect on Apple as a company going forward. Anyone that knows anything about Apple knows that the company is Steve Jobs and vice versa. Mr. Jobs returned to his beloved company in the late 90s after being forced out by the board years earlier. After his much hailed return, the public had an incredible array of outstanding products put on the market by Apple: the iPod, the iMac, the iTunes music store, the revolutionary Mac OS X, and, of course, the iPhone. Mr. Jobs is nothing if not one of the greatest technological Visionaries of our time.

Which leads us to the question of his succession. Forbes, Fortune, and other business periodicals have been rhetorically asking about the plan at least since his ultra-thin presence on stage last fall. As a publicly-traded company, it is a fair question: shareholders have the right to know who will take over as CEO of any company should the unfortunate happen to the current leader. It should be a part of any company's strategic plan - public or private. If the plan is shielded from investors or employees, it exudes unpreparedness on the part of the company in general and the board of directors specifically. In short, it doesn't look good. And it certainly doesn't provide confidence in the company's stock. Shares of Apple on January 14th had to be halted in trading after the news broke about Mr. Jobs' decision to take a medical leave of absence. They were halted in NASDAQ trading only after they dropped over 10% that afternoon.

Of course, not every CEO is as heralded as Mr. Jobs. Be that as it may, CEO anonymity it shouldn't get these companies a free pass when it comes to succession planning.

Interestingly enough, Warren Buffett has had to deal with these very same questions for the past few years at his shareholder meetings held in Omaha each spring. Mr. Buffett used to deflect these questions, simply stating, "I get an annual medical physical, and I feel just fine." However, Mr. Buffett had the foresight to tell his investors that there are three candidates who are "ready, willing, and able to take over command of Berkshire's day-to-day operations and investing activities" should he become incapacitated. It did not take a severe downturn in his health for Mr. Buffett to see the need for a succession plan. (The Board of Directors at Berkshire Hathaway are well aware of Mr. Buffett's succession plan wishes.)

Which brings us to your organization. How prepared are you for someone else taking over your company? How prepared are your employees without you at the helm? Have you groomed two or three potential candidates for your leadership position? Have you informed your board of directors about your succession plan?

Clearly, no one is infallible and no human is immortal, even though many Apple enthusiasts wish Mr. Jobs were. Keep in mind Mr. Jobs is only 53, which is young for one of the most successful technology companies in the history of business.

Run-on-the-Banks back in fashion; Trust Shattered

2008-07-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

What has been happening with our nation’s financial system is endemic of the free markets gone awry, greed, and too little government oversight. 2008 has proven to be an incredibly terrible year for financial services companies, many of which have seen their stock prices slide to 52-week lows. Trust in these banks—and even in our nation’s financial system as a whole—has been shattered. Our markets have been taking a beating, along with the financial companies. One of the largest government takeovers in our nation’s history just happened last Friday night with Indy Mac being taken over by the FDIC—all $36 billion worth. Indy’s stock plummeted from $29 a year ago to around 29 cents today. What happened? Depositors ran on the bank to the tune of approximately $1.3 billion. (www.thestreet.com ; search for Indy Mac.)

History has proven that Run-On-The-Banks happen when depositors lose all Trust in the bank that holds their deposits. Customers’ faith in deposits is the vital key in a financial institution’s success. When a bank—an investment bank, a retail bank, or otherwise—loses its clients’ trust, financial institutions capitulate, as in the case of Indy Mac last week and Bear Stearns back in March. It should be noted that these were not start-up banks, nor fledgling enterprises with only a few years of existence under their belts. They were once shining institutions with long, proud histories; they were icons of the greatness of our nation’s free enterprise system. They were icons because of their pristine reputations. However, once that reputation is tarnished, even if only in the minds of industry peers, the damning run-on-the-bank boulder starts rolling. It’s nearly impossible to stop it. Ask employees of Indy Mac. Ask former employees of Bear Stearns. Ask former employees of Arthur Andersen, the former Five of the Big Five accounting firms now whittled down to Four due to its lax auditing of Enron’s cooked books.

At the heart of all of these business meltdowns is a breach in trust. As we’ve seen in recent headlines, this trust exists largely in the minds of customers and shareholders. When it is tainted, even slightly, alarms go off in the minds of the stakeholders, and laser-like attention focuses on the company’s foibles. Management is grilled. The firm’s books are poured over and scrutinized. Savvy short sellers circle the company like sharks—bet heavily against it—and make piles of money when the company’s stock goes down. There is little management can do to assuage these stockholder fears; this horse has long left the gate. The run-on-the-bank has too much momentum.

How do we prevent this from happening again? It’s difficult to say. History has proven Boom | Bust cycles happening again and again in our great nation. They date all the way back to the Railroad Boom | Bust in the mid-19th century to the current real estate Boom | Bust we’re experiencing right now. Market participants don’t like to admit that bubbles burst, but they always do. It’s only a matter of when. Often, it begins when a few financially savvy people get the idea that prices are ridiculously high and thus begin the massive sell off. Usually this is at the highest prices where trust really needs to be verified. If it isn’t, market meltdowns ensue.

Remember: World Class Results Demand World Class Trust
www.worldclasstrust.com

Speaking Programs

2008-07-02T06:08:00.000-07:00

I wanted to take a moment and share with you a few of my speaking programs in addition to World Class Trust, which I love (www.worldclasstrust.com). The first program is my Strategic Planning program. It's highly interactive and aimed at C-Level types who are looking for help in company direction and performance improvement. The second program is something I call PQS, which stands for Productivity, Quality, and Service. This is largely based upon the Continuous Improvement Process (CIP), something I've been an advocate of since I became a Vice President many, many years ago. (OK, not that long ago...) Anyway, take a look at the short program descriptions and let me know what you think. These will all be posted to my speaking Web site, www.worldclasstrust.com, by today.

Remember: Trust is the foundation to each and every healthy relationship - personal or business.

Mark's Speaking Programs

Strategic Planning

Pre-retreat preparation is a 2-step process. First, all participants read a book on corporate vision. Second, participants complete a survey of SWOT questions, verify the company’s vision, and define an initial list of long-term objectives. Next, the retreat consists of collaborative discussions to clarify the SWOT and hone corporate vision. Long-term objectives are precisely defined with target dates. Initial department goals built around business drivers are also defined. The final portion defines sharing of the plan with all employees and establishment of follow-up retreat dates.

PQS Best Practices

The value of watching yourself perform has been a long-time sports coaching tool. For the first 15 years, game films were scrutinized by players and coaches. More recently, practices were taped so that coaches could instruct individual players on specific techniques.

Mark Bonkiewicz takes this proven coaching practice of video footage to the business world in a dynamic way.

Stage #1 is a workshop that utilizes a national championship football, highlights of the winningest division I college football team, and a DVD of the team’s former head coach, Dr. Tom Osborne. Dr. Osborne is a subject matter expert on vision, leadership, execution, and team unity.

Stage #2 is the capturing of actual work footage at the shop, jobsite, or the manufacturing floor. The footage will contain best practices, average work behaviors, and areas needing improvement.

Stage #3 has the participants fully engaged in judging their performance with objective standards that are customized to their firm and industry in the areas of productivity, quality, and safety.

American Airlines & Trust Erosion

2008-04-13T11:02:00.000-07:00

This week, American Airlines canceled over 3,000 of its scheduled flights due to a wiring check within its MD-80s' landing gear. American gave no warning to the passengers who were traveling, and made little concession to its customers in transit for their lack of notice. Thus, many passengers were left holding their bags at various airports around the nation while American toyed with its MD-80s. American wasn't able to find accommodation for each passenger despite its best efforts, stranding passengers at airports or hotels overnight. Not the best way to go about winning new friends and influencing people.

Here we go again. Another airline super-blunder that could have been avoided had they put a better plan in place. While the wiring problem does take some time to fix, it's certainly not something that can't be performed with typical maintenance. Or if the problems were more severe, they simply could have taken 2-3 planes out of flight commission for a short period of time, fixed the problems, and moved onto the next planes. Some of these MD-80s are over 30 years old; they're bound to need some serious maintenance every so often. Certainly the issues could have been avoided by thinking through the best steps necessary and executing them along with other normal operations. Instead, American has a rather difficult and negative public perception to deal with as they move forward with their business. United dealt with something similar to this a year or so ago when they informed some of their best customers - the frequent United fliers - that they were jettisoning their frequent flier program in an effort to save money. Could anything be more asinine? If you already have a public-image problem, don't make it worse by adding fuel to their fire!

Few people enjoy traveling by air today. Having to deal with security regulations, long security lines, lost baggage, and snooty ticket counter reps, airlines not only mistreat their customers, but their employees as well. The hassles are simply too much for people to handle. Trust has eroded at most of these companies, and it may never return. Two Chapter 11 bankruptcies were just announced this week. One airline even shuttered its operations completely two weeks ago with no employee notice.

You know how hard it is to rebuild trust between people once the initial bond of trust is broken. It can be done, but it takes a lot of effort and forgiveness in people. In that regard, the airlines have a Long way to go to rebuild trust with their employees and customers.

These companies have gone from being in an incredibly exhilarating and beloved industry 30-40 years ago to being in the worst-performing and most hated industry in our nation. This is widely the result of trust erosion between management and employees; the company and its customers; and the company and the public at large.

Have you ever wanted to ask...

2008-02-07T15:15:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wanted to ask a person of influence or wisdom a business or leadership question that has always been on your mind but haven't been given the opportunity? What would that question be? Who would you want to ask? What if you could come together with a select few other people and share in this exclusive experience? Such a rare opportunity seldom presents itself for those of us who would relish the opportunity to participate in an event this special.

I am hosting the legendary Dr. Tom Osborne on a series of two teleconferences which are open to a limited number of registrants. In addition to coaching the Huskers to 3 national championships in his last four years as Head Coach, Dr. Osborne and his wife, Nancy, started the not-for-profit-organization called Teammates in 1991 which has grown to 3,200 mentors. He was also Congressman of Nebraska’s 3^rd District for six years. On our two scheduled calls, I will ask Dr. Osborne questions about leadership and about how the principles embedded in his book, Faith in the Game, can catapult all sizes of firms to greater levels of success. Dr. Osborne will also discuss a few lessons in leadership he's learned since becoming Athletic Director at the University of Nebraska.

These phone-based teleseminars are scheduled for Thursday, February 21^st, February 28^th and March 6^th from 8 until 9:30 p.m. CST. Listen from the comfort of your home, hotel room, or vehicle if you’re traveling. The first session is a free preview call with Dr. Osborne’s pre-recorded comments. Then, you register and pay for the second and third live teleseminars at which time you can submit your question to Dr. Tom.

Your question will go into a pool with questions sent in by other registrants. Specialized software will analyze all the inputs and select the ten most popular questions. Half of those questions will be answered by Dr. Tom during live teleseminar number 1, and the other half during live teleseminar number 2…in addition to questions posed by me.

For just $49.95, you can have the opportunity to learn key lessons about business and life from not only an NCAA coaching legend, but one of America’s foremost authorities on organizational leadership. In three full hours, you will learn dozens of priceless and timeless nuggets of wisdom and trust.

Now, here’s where it really gets exciting for you…I am also offering an affiliate program to those people who are as excited and pumped as I am about the Dr. Tom Osborne teleseries. Your firm will receive a 10% Referral Fee from the teleseminar sales to your friends, family, and peers. For example, if you sign up for our affiliate program and you have 100 people register for the two paid calls, you will receive a $500 check from Dynamic Consulting by March 21^st. Registering to become an affiliate of this program is free.

When you decide to become an affiliate, you simply click on this hyperlink:

http://www.dynamicconsulting.net/askDrTomAffiliate.asp This is our affiliate resources page on our Web site. On this page, you can download the email template to send to your friends, family, and associates, as well as download Ch. 5, Goal Setting, from Faith in the Game. The instructions on this page will tell you everything you need to know to register as an affiliate, customize our email template cover letter, and send your email out to friends, family, and associates.

I'd recommend you get your friends and family to register immediately because the 1,000 entry phone lines are going fast as coaches, former players, fans, and business professionals hear about this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

I’m confident that you're as excited as I am about this extremely rare opportunity!

It'll be great to have you as an affiliate! If you have any questions, please email me at markb@dynamicconsulting.net.

Don't Agonize...Apologize!

2008-01-14T09:56:00.000-08:00

All of us are humans so doing perfect work is impossible. The best we can strive for is excellence. There will always be a gap somewhere in our work where we let people down. The key is watch for the imperfections, identify them, apologize to those who were negatively impacted, make the correction, and keep moving down the road of life!

I personally had two incidents of imperfection in our business last week. The first major glitch was this very Ezine, Mark's Trust Assets. It is scheduled for creation and distribution every second Thursday. Neither I nor my IT guru, Jeff, caught it. Now keep in mind that Jeff works like a Timex watch. Imagine that…one of our key marketing tools used to communicate with our business and professional peers and friends was totally over-looked!

The second major glitch was the delivery of a proposal in my consulting business. It was scheduled for Friday, 1-11-08 at 4:30 p.m. Please recognize that this is the first time in my business career --- during which I have literally made thousands upon thousands of sales calls --- that I had a request from a highly qualified prospect to deliver their proposal on a Friday afternoon. They are in their "harvest season" and need to interact with their customers/clients from 7:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. daily, so that is why they requested their proposal during their "down-time" of 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. on Friday.

When did I realize these two errors? They were discovered during my preparation of this week's Action Plan last night. Yes, for over three decades I have invested time on Sunday to finalize my WPOA (Weekly Plan of Action) for the next week. Those two errors sounded like a freight train horn when I found them! I was frozen on the railroad tracks and the train was bearing down on me, full throttle. How would I react?

I automatically thought of my parents and grandparents and their sage words of wisdom --- "honesty is the best policy." I added a new gem last night: Don't Agonize…Apologize!!!

So please allow me to apologize for missing my every second Thursday broadcast of the Mark's Trust Assets Ezine.

Obviously you receive value from our Ezine or you would not invest the time to read it! Same thing with this blog. Somehow while converting my 100% paper based, 30-year old habit of using a Monthly Master Calendar and Weekly fold-up sheet to Microsoft Outlook with a daily fold-up sheet, I failed to add this bi-weekly Ezine to my task list! The bad news is that I fell off the wagon while learning a new productivity enhancement tool. The good news is that I bounced off the ground and ran mightily to jump back on the wagon of productivity and re-building trust. My IT guru will build an alarm into his scheduler every second Wednesday to remind him to call me and ask for tomorrow's Ezine!

Regarding the missed proposal delivery, I emailed an apology late last night to my prospect. To make amends for our error, he also received a dinner offer for delivery after 6:30 p.m. so he can eat while Dynamic Consulting delivers his customized proposal of solutions. You will hear the rest of that story next week!

Living Every Day to the Max!

2007-12-13T10:40:00.000-08:00

Are you ready for your final day on earth?

This is an extremely challenging question that most of us want to avoid. For those of us who live in Omaha, NE, the tragic event last Wednesday at the Von Maur store at Westroads Mall has forever changed our lives.

In our consulting and speaking business, we work hard to differentiate ourselves from competition. We work hard to build trust and deliver high value to our clients by employing in-depth questioning, listening intentionally, analyzing your answers, customizing all of our work, providing excellent turnaround time, and positively impacting your bottom line.

Von Maur is the store that we have utilized to purchase and ship gifts to prospects as a unique tool to introduce ourselves to them. My wonderful wife of 34 years, Paula, was at Von Maur on the third floor at Customer Service just 20 minutes before the tragedy occurred.

We are extremely grateful that she – and our friends and family – were unscathed. Our hearts and prayers go out to all the victims, their families, and friends. Paula knew several of the victims and can attest to the genuine, concerned, hard-working, fabulous people that they were.

So…the question for each of us is…Am I ready to meet my Maker? Am I ready for today to be my last day on earth? Are there any wrongs that need righted? Does anyone deserve and need my apologies and my request for forgiveness? Are all my legal affairs in order? Is my family protected with a will or trust? Do I have enough life insurance to provide for my family in my absence? Is the written succession plan for my business complete?

Your family, friends, peers, employees, customers and clients should all have the highest level of trust in you. If the answer to any of these questions is no, let’s all commit to tie-up the loose ends in our lives before the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Day. This will be a fine way to be one step ahead of the game going into 2008.

Can you re-invent yourself?

2007-11-29T08:43:00.000-08:00

“The times…they are a-changing.” How frequently have you heard this phrase in your business career? What impact does it have on you when you hear it? Does it make you cringe or does it excite and invigorate you?

The months of November through March are busy time periods for firms that are serious about leadership, cash flow, and profitability. Since we live in a 12-month calendar, each December tends to be closure for one year and January is the birth of a new season and business year, a new beginning for your business. This is particularly true for companies with a calendar-based fiscal year.

Companies with strong leadership know the tremendous value in creating a tangible, measurable strategic plan for the next 1 – 3 – 5 years. The economic turbulence that currently surrounds us is providing a larger than normal incentive to create a clear-cut plan to implement. As you create that plan in these turbulent times, there are several questions that all of us should ask ourselves. How close am I to my clients? Have I invested the time to visit them and ask how their business is changing? Has our firm proven its ability to listen, to ask probing questions, to analyze data, and to provide valuable insights and solutions? Do they trust me? Do they trust our firm? How strong is our relationship with our customers right now? Is it stronger than ever? Were there a few bumps in the road last year? How did we handle them?

After acquiring their inputs and defining their specific needs, is our firm willing to re-invent our products or services to continue earning revenues as our clients’ needs change? Or are we too stuck in our ways to see the changes in the marketplace?

The more uncertain the times, the more we need to look at the strength of our relationships. The trust our clients have in us is priceless, and should never be taken for granted.

Reflections on Dynamic Consulting's Client Appreciation Party

2007-11-21T07:32:00.000-08:00

Fresh off of Dynamic Consulting's Client Appreciation Party last week, I felt it appropriate to share a few thoughts about the party and how World Class Trust was integrated into it. We were blessed with an outstanding turnout at the Omaha Marriott. We had executives, business owners, former mayors & Congressmen, and executive directors of not-for-profits join us. In my brief discussions with our guests, everyone was grateful to call “time-out” to celebrate their
successes in 2007.

During our Client Appreciation Party, we chose to launch our new professional speaking brand strategy, World Class Trust, and gain initial feedback. Our new website - www.worldclasstrust.com - is officially open for business! I'm extremely excited and passionate
about the tremendous results that World Class Trust can deliver to you, your business, and your relationships. While trust is at the heart of any good, healthy relationship, it seems mighty elusive in many of today's business transactions. Has this been your experience? As I like to
say, “Without trust and timing there won't be a transaction.“

While the subject of trust is the thread which runs throughout my keynote, I briefly touched on my three “Pillars of Trust.” The pillars are called the Triple Victory™ (for the employee, the customer, and the stakeholders), Profitability, and Sustainability. These three pillars lead to
World Class Results. Based on the feedback we received, all three of these pillars resonated with the audience.

Profitability is the fuel that drives the entire organization into the future. Without profits, we have no staying power to utilize our values to achieve our vision.

Sustainability is an organization's long term ability to grow revenues and profits. It's a solid statement of Organizational Greatness. It is proven Profit Performance Power built over decades. It generates tremendous stock value growth. One of my favorite examples is Berkshire Hathaway, the investment holding company controlled by legendary investor Warren Buffett.
Berkshire's stock has enjoyed 1,500% growth over an 18-year period beginning in the early '90s. Now, that's proven Performance Power! That's sustainability!

While I thoroughly enjoyed speaking to several of you and presenting to all of you, my biggest challenge at our Client Appreciation Party was to speak individually to each Dynamic Consulting guest and say "Thank you for being my client.”

Without you, we don't exist. We wholly appreciate your trust and your friendship. We appreciate what your firm does for other businesses and the community.

We look forward to enhancing our relationships with each of you and look forward to helping you make 2008 an even better year!

Today in Africa...

2007-11-19T09:37:00.000-08:00

As a boy growing up on a farm near Sidney, NE, I started my work career at the young age of 10. We raised between 500 and 1,000 head of lambs each year, and the last three months their feed was hand-carried in 5 gallon pails and poured into feed bunks for their consumption. My dad was an early riser, so we were frequently awake and leaving for work at or before sunrise.

My dad’s ritual for waking me up was based on sharing some nugget of wisdom to kick-start my brain into action. When I was around 11 years old, once a week he would share this nugget with me: “Today in Africa, a gazelle woke up and started running.”

I pondered, analyzed, and dissected this saying for several weeks, and could not arrive at any logical conclusion. Finally, out of shear frustration and strong desire to hear the rest of the story, I asked him, “So why should I care?”

My dad then gave me the rest of the puzzle, “Because today in Africa, a lion woke up and started running.” Now I could see that the gazelle was running out of the need for self-preservation. Even as a pre-teen, survival of the fittest made a lot of sense to me.

So the analogy for today’s business professionals is that we cannot afford to sit still. Competition is keen and growing more intense every day. The Internet has made it possible to transact business 24/7 with people around the world. Keeping your company moving, growing, and improving is a DAILY CHALLENGE. Surrounding yourself with talented teammates, suppliers, and vendors that you can trust is more important than ever because you can’t be successful alone. As I like to say, trust and timing are two critically important components of every business transaction. What specifically did you do yesterday to build trust with someone? What will you do today to build World Class Trust with a teammate or business ally?

Has passion been lacking in your work lately?

2007-10-04T11:05:00.000-07:00

Does it seem like many things you are doing are in slow motion? Does your work seem to miss the target?

Causes for lost passion can include boredom, lack of management appreciation for our efforts, lack of teamwork, or lack of new challenges. Sometimes complacency has caused us to lose sight of our personal goals and work goals.

Have you called a “Time-Out!” to truly analyze the source of your problem? What did you discover? Was it boredom or complacency or lack of a new challenge?

Did you discover that you had drifted off course? That your message to teammates or customers had become watered-down? Did you discover that you were holding back some key information from a teammate, a boss, or a customer? Had you been kidding yourself about your own lack of performance?

It is easy to give ourselves a higher rating for our work performance than our customers or teammates would rate us. It is easy to point the finger at other people rather than at ourselves. Just remember that when you are pointing your finger at someone else, three fingers may be pointing back at you!

Most importantly, have your actions or words been building trust or eroding trust? My experience has been that lack of passion is tied to lack of trust. If you can’t look yourself in the mirror and say with 100% honesty, “I have been truthful in my dealings with others,” then you need to go rebuild that trust with those teammates, customers, or clients. As trust rebuilds, your passion will be re-invigorated!

Hewlett Harbor man racks up $4,800 iPhone bill

2007-09-18T12:09:00.001-07:00

Does this sound like Full-Disclosure to you? C'mon, AT & T...

Hewlett Harbor man racks up $4,800 iPhone bill

BY RICHARD J. DALTON, JR. | richard.dalton@newsday.com

6:49 PM EDT, September 7, 2007

Jay Levy and his family took their iPhones on a Mediterranean cruise. Now the Hewlett Harbor entrepreneur feels as if he got taken for a ride, receiving a 54-page monthly bill of nearly $4,800 from AT&T Wireless.

While Levy, his wife and his daughter were enjoying the trip, and even while they were sleeping, their three iPhones were racking up a bill for data charges. The iPhone regularly updates e-mail, even while it's off, so that all the messages will be available when the user turns it on.

"They have periodic updates on their data files, and they translate into megabucks," Levy said. "This is akin to your bank having automatic access to your ATM machine and is siphoning money out during all times of the day and night without your knowledge."

Levy and his daughter each have three e-mail accounts on their iPhones, and they were each billed more than $1,900.

His wife's phone had one e-mail account, and her bill hit $890. One connection alone ran $223. Levy said he has complained all the way to office of AT&T's president.

Data transfers are not a problem domestically, where the AT&T Wireless plan includes unlimited data transfers for the iPhone.

But the iPhone's international plan in 29 countries, mostly in Europe, costs $24.99 for 20 megabytes. In countries outside the plan, charges can run from $5 to $20 per megabyte, said Ben Wilson, editor of iPhone Atlas, a Web site owned by the online news company CNet.

"It was a big surprise," Wilson said. "Consumers didn't expect that the charges were going to be so high and that the phone was going to be doing all this data transfer in the background that they weren't aware of."

Herbert Kliegerman, 68, a real-estate agent from the Bronx, said he incurred $2,000 while visiting Mexico. He filed a lawsuit seeking class-action status in New York State Supreme Court last week, alleging that Apple did not properly disclose the international roaming charges.

AT&T Wireless offered to refund $1,500 to Kliegerman, but he said that's not good enough. "I want a full refund," he said.

Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said the company adequately discloses the potential charges on the Web site and when the phone is activated.

The 6,707-word terms and conditions document on the AT&T Web site says: "Substantial charges may be incurred if phone is taken out of the U.S. even if no services are intentionally used."

Kliegerman said said most people don't read the lengthy terms and conditions. Furthermore, the rate plans listed on the site indicate "unlimited data (Email/Web)," without an asterisk. He said that's misleading.

Kliegerman's lawyer, Randall S. Newman of Manhattan, said about 15 people from around the country have called him complaining of international roaming charges and the inability to unlock the phone to use it with another carrier.

Apple hasn't yet released the iPhone abroad. Levy said he didn't expect data transfer charges internationally because he believed the data network in Europe wasn't compatible with the iPhone. The Levys brought their phones with them for voice calls.

Other smartphones also automatically update e-mail and other data such as weather and stock prices, but those phones offer a wider variety of international pricing plans in more countries than is available on the iPhone, AT&T Wireless spokeswoman Ellen Webner said.

Overcoming Fear

2007-09-06T11:59:00.000-07:00

Fear is something each one of us experiences. Some of us experience it daily. A lucky few of us rarely experience it. Fear prevents us from performing certain activities like speaking in public. Fear can cripple us into a corner. Have you experienced fear in the context of work lately? How did you deal with it? Did you feel the fear, and do it anyway? Or, did you let the fear get the better of you, pushing you backward instead of falling forward into the fear?

Here is one of my favorite aphorisms: while the circumference of the earth is 25,000 miles, the hardest 6 inches of space to control is located between my ears. Has that been your experience? Fear can be very difficult to deal with; however, with the right frame of mind, using logic and reasoning skills, you can overcome fear or simply transmute it into excitement.

Here are some helpful tips on dealing with fear in your life:

Remind yourself of your past victories. What have you won lately? What successes have you enjoyed in the past 5 years? What human fears have you successfully overcome? How did you do it? Suppose you were afraid to ride a roller coaster at Six Flags in Dallas. One day, you simply waited in line; convinced yourself that it would be OK along with all the other people in line; were probably scared to death while dropping the first 150 feet and shooting straight up; and then the ride was over in 20 seconds. Suddenly, you thought, “Wow! That was exhilarating! Just amazing!” Then, what did you think? “I wanna ride that again!” Just like that, you turned your fear and anxiety into excitement and exhilaration! You remember that, right?

Another excellent way to overcome fear and worry in general is to start working-out. It can start with a simple discipline of walking a few times a week. Or, grab a friend and join a gym together. Tell each other you’ll work-out together, and hold one another accountable to the act of working out. If you work out together, you’ll keep each other on task and accountable to your health goals. You can encourage one another! That’s one of the pillars of 24-Hour Fitness’s work -out regimen with their personal trainers: accountability. The good news is, not only can you do it, you can do it without a personal trainer. You’ll find that once you begin and stick with the act of working out, you’ll want to do it more and more. Your fear will erode. Your perspective on your day’s events will change. Things won’t be that big a deal to you. Minor office sparing will seem just that – minor. You’ll not only look healthier, you’ll have much more positive, productive thoughts as well!

I’ll close with the notion of overcoming fear through dedicated service to others. If you completely dedicate yourself to genuinely helping others and forgetting about your own problems, your fear will dissolve. It will become as if you never had it. Many people need help, whether it’s in technology, social services, food distribution, or some other human need.

Be of service to others and you’ll forget all about your fear.

Hang Around Successful People

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Have you ever noticed how good you feel whenever you hang around successful people? People you look up to? People you might consider your heroes? Dozens of positive thoughts swirl around in your head when you are within a few feet of successful people. The positive energy they give off is absolutely intoxicating. You never want to leave their side, particularly if they’re charismatic. They make others feel so good about themselves, don’t they?

Hanging around successful people and going where they go does many positive things for you. It can be a career boost. It can be an exceptional idea exchange for you. It can be a great way to be of service to others if you share common causes with them. Successful people attract other successful people. They don’t hang around the gutters of negativity and cynicism.

Don’t you want your teammates to be like those successful people you hear about, read about, and watch on television? Aren’t you interested in their past experiences? How they dealt with business challenges? How they dealt with work, personal, or family challenges? How do you think they strive to build trust with everyone?

Everyone had to start somewhere. If your heroes are anything like mine, these people of influence are most likely humble people. Perhaps they came from a small town in Oklahoma no one has ever heard of—that didn’t prevent them from Greatness. Suppose they didn’t get the Harvard MBA—that didn’t prevent them from Greatness. Suppose they weren’t always the spellbinding speaker you’re watching right now—that didn’t prevent them from Greatness.

Your heroes overcame objections, obstacles, and challenges just like you’re doing right now. Many of these people of influence may have been on the precipice of personal or financial disaster; however, they persevered with passion, and they won big!

Do you have enough successful people on your team? Do you have teammates who have embraced your corporate vision and are passionate about achieving it? If not, what do you need to change within your organization?