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Be extraordinary in doing the ordinary; Be a Fred

The comments from my last post got me to thinking about this audiobook I've listened to time and again called "The Fred Factor." The author, Mark Sanborn, is a former resident of Ohio and an alumnis of The Ohio State University. He is also a friend of this blog.

Fred is a real person. Fred Shea is a postman who was delivering mail in the neighborhood that Mark Sanborn was living in when he first moved to Denver. Fred wanted to know about Mark, about his schedule and what kind of arrangements he wanted to be made with his mail when he was out of town. Fred wanted to make sure that there were no signs that Mark wasn't home when he was out of town, so not to attract burgulars. Fred did his job and then some, even bringing over a package another delivery service had accidently dropped off at the wrong house.

Using the example set by Fred Shea, Mark Sanborn tells us how we can be a "Fred." Being a Fred means we are doing an ordinary job in an extraordinary way. We can also be leaders by following the guidlines set in this book.

Mark shows us other examples of "Freds", people from all walks of life. If more people were to follow these, we could improve our lives drastically. We could lead by example, maybe improve customer service where we shop.

Mark Sanborn is a leadership guru. In addition to The Fred Factor, he has also written, You Don't Need a Title to be a Leader, and The Encore Effect. All three are good books and all three also have editions which can be used in church training.

Comments

Syd said…
I think that Lou blogged about something similar today. It's people from all walks of life that make this country happen. And it's not the AIG CEO's who do that for sure.
Jen said…
Your 'Service with a Smile' post is great! I know I can come here and always get that. :D
It's all about the Golden Rule.
Thanks Cliff.
Pat Jenkins said…
isn't there a parable telling us a real man does what is right when no one is looking? you a real man wixy?
Cliff said…
I try to be one Pat.

I might have to look up that song by Todd Rundgren, called "Real Man."
clean and crazy said…
I guess there are a couple new places to be discovered maybe for my blog role, i live for extraordinary people living ordinary lives!!
This is a great post and reminder...along with your other post about service with a smile. I'm going to try that line "thank you for WORKING at...". Cute. Also, the Fred factor reminds me of another song, a country song by artist Clay Walker. It's called The Chain Of Love and it is a great story song with a pay it forward message. Look it up and give a listen along with that Todd song!

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