Since retiring from the commercial world, I have published eight books. Six are mysteries—the Mark Rollins Adventures series. One, my latest, is a series of short stories, Stories from Applewood Manor, that explore the unique city Asheville North Carolina and its 100 year old bed and breakfast inn, the Applewood Manor. And another is the management guidebook, The Language of Excellence filled with practical, easy to understand advice for creating a team in pursuit of excellence—a team that understands that excellence must be earned through the eyes of those they serve and can only be maintained through constant innovation.
Recently, Katherine Davis posted about the guidebook on LinkedIn and told the story of the mirrors I issued to all members of the Juris, Inc. team:
“While in Seattle Washington at Pike Place Market, I stopped at a kiosk of a woodworker who made mirrors on a wooden stand. That is when I arranged to purchase the mirrors--one for every employee including new hires with instructions to position the mirror so that you could see yourself talking on the phone and the message that people can hear your smile over the phone. The unspoken message was that they could tell when you were not smiling."
Juris, Inc. no longer exist. It was purchased by LexisNexis® in 2007. What was remarkable is how many former Juris, Inc. team members, who have moved on to other companies, responded that they still have their mirror and still have it on their desk next to the phone.
Of all my books, I still consider The Language of Excellence to be the most important. The Language of Excellence is a powerful training tool—one that makes doing and saying the right things, making the right decisions and avoiding the wrong ones, a habit.
###
For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook editions are available on Amazon, Google Play, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and other online bookstores. Audio editions are available on Amazon, iTunes and directly from Audible.com. Check out the latest book by Tom Collins, Stories from Applewood Manor, that explores Asheville, North Carolina’s History, Mysteries, Ghosts, and Tall Tales.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.
