Do I need a CDL

Do I need a CDL

 When I first went to work for a rather large company I had a guy come up to me and asked me “hey Dan do I need a CDL to drive this truck?”

 He's driving a 1 ton dually pickup pulling a gooseneck trailer.

 I said, “let's walk over and look at the truck,  so I  can show you how you know if you need a CDL or not.”

We walked over to the truck and started looking at it. We noticed that the GVWR on the truck was 14K.   Then we walked back and looked at the trailer. The trailer was rated 22.5k.  

I asked him what those two numbers added together equal.   he started to take off his shoes and I encouraged him to get his calculator out. just kidding.   

Anyways the GCWR of the truck and trailer are 36.5k lb.

We talked about how anytime a vehicle or combination of vehicles is rated over 26k a CDL is required to operate it.  

“Then he said hey let's go check out my buddies truck over here”

The truck was an older one ton dually its GVWR was 12k lb he was hooked up to a trailer rated at 14k lb.  

I told the guy to do the math you looked at me and he said “dude that's only rated at 26k lb even.  so my buddy doesn't have to have a CDL to drive this truck but if I hooked up to the same trailer with my newer truck I'd still have to have a class A CDL.”

I told him he was spot-on.

The entire point of this is that not all vehicles have the same GVWR.

With the evolution of the automotive industry their rating Vehicles higher than they used to be, therefore if you buy a new vehicle and have the same trailer it may require a CDL to operate that vehicle.

Today take a few seconds to go out and check your entire fleet, make a spreadsheet of all the GVWR of all of your trailers, and all of your pickups.   do a quick calculation to make sure that everything stays below 26k pounds or you have CDL Drivers in all those vehicles that combined have a GCWR of over 26k.

If you still have questions, reach out to us let us know how we can help you.

Being a positive leader

 Being a positive leader

Negativity casts a shadow on everything and everyone around you.

Think back when the last time that you were around somebody that was super negative didn't have anything nice to say all I can do is talk bad about the people around them or about the situation they never found the Brightside to anything.

What happened to you if you spent much time around them? You stopped seeing the bright side, you even stopped seeing the silver lining.

Their shadow of negativity cast over you.

Being positive when your leader is huge is probably one of the biggest things that you can do. Your attitude makes a difference is everybody else's attitude around you.

I had a boss one time, he definitely was not a leader, all he could do was talk crap about the other departments in our company.   he kept saying how he would do stuff differently if he was in that position or they don't know their head from a hole in the ground.  he never had anything positive to say about anything.

I was working remotely. I didn't get to spend much time around and my attitude didn't change much.   but the other guys on my team changed their attitude tremendously.

In less than three months I watched them go from somebody who would look for the Silver Lining occasionally to someone who never saw the silver lining.

The change to having an attitude really thought that they were better than everyone else around them.

Their leader influenced them just by his positiveness by his actions he changed the way they looked at the entire company.

The point is that as a leader your attitude makes all the difference in the world, starts the day out positive, looks for the positive side, be encouraging, be respectful and helps others to see the brighter side of any situation. 

Have you ever thought about hiring a coach to help your leaders grow?   We can help you with that and send us a message today to see if your company qualifies for our hot seat leadership program we're only opening this to 10 individuals.

Being a leader when you're not In-charge

 Being a leader when you're not In-charge

Some of the best leaders I've known have never truly been managers or been in charge of anyone. They know how to get people motivated, they know how to inspire them without actually having authority.

Let's talk about Dean Graziosi. Dean is a motivator, he is a leader.  

His purpose is to help people in the self-knowledge industry.

He knows how important it is for people to have control over their own growth.  

He doesn't really have any authority over anyone but still, he leads so many to success.

Personally, I've been in this situation many times.

Where I have no authority over people but get to help them ensure they are in compliance with federal regulations. 

The scare tactic hardly works for in this situation. 

On the other hand, I can sell them on the idea of why it's important for them to be in compliance. 

I can make them think that it's their decision.

You see, good leaders don't need credit for what they're doing, they don't need to be in charge, they don't need to have authority over others. 

The last person I want to talk about is Christ.  He took 12 strangers and didn't ask them what they were doing. He said come follow me and I will make you fishers of men. 

He was a leader.

He led them and still leads us today.

We challenge you today to go out in a position where you're not in authority and be a leader. If you are in a position of authority see what leaders work with you and for you.

7 Ingredients To Being A Great Leader

7 Ingredients To Being A Great Leader

"A good leader leads the people from above them. A great leader leads the people from within them."--M. D. Arnold

Finding GREAT leaders is NOT easy!  

We came up with the 7 ingredients that make GREAT leaders so awesome.  

Passion is important because if you have it, then it will radiate to others around you.  the more passionate you are about what you do, the more productive you are.  others see that passion and want me to be more like you. 

"People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision." --John C. Maxwell

Perseverance Your ability to persevere will make you an awesome leader too.  What if  Moses gave up when Pharaoh would not let the Israelite go after the sixth plague?

Let's say you are trying to split stone, after and the stone splits after you hit it 101 times and find a huge golden nugget. What if you gave up on the swing number 99 or 100?

"Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm." --Publilius Syrus 

Compassion: Having compassion for others is key to being a great leader. 

Without compassion, leaders will lack the ability to truly appreciate the sacrifice of those on the team.

"When people talk, listen completely." --Ernest Hemingway

Empathy goes hand-in-hand with Compassion.  If you have no empathy for others then you will never be a GREAT leader.

"Leaders don't inflict pain, they share the pain." --Max Depree

The Little Things That Matter A lot of "bosses" have forgotten how important the little things really are.

Like remembering a birthday, anniversary (work or relationship), and so much more.

Take time to make the little things a priority.

"A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit." --Arnold Glasow

Putting Others First Making others a priority is essential to becoming an outstanding leader.

Too often as we move up the promotion ladder and forget to put others first. 

We become too involved in our own priorities and forget about those around us.

"To add value to others, one must first value others." --John Maxwell

Moral Compass have one is vital. Your compass is what helps to keep you on the right track.  It is what you use to guide you in every decision you make.

"The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves." --Ray Kroc

Endurance and Perseverance are close to the same..  Having endurance is the ability to keep going even when you are exhausted.  When you get bored with a project you find a way to rejuvenate yourself and the team.

"A leader is a person you will follow to a place you would not go by yourself." --Joel Barker