Chapter 2

LEARN TO READ THE SITUATION.

My Daddy is famous for “sizing up” a situation before he acts on it. The pain of waiting for his response in the early days was tough. When I asked to go out with my friends on the weekend, he would never respond right away. Often, he would listen to all the details that I was sharing and then he would go on to something else. He would even walk outside to the barn and start working on a project. I am thinking to myself, “what is he doing? Did he not even hear what I asked?” In my frustration, I would turn to my mother and beg her to talk some sense into him. She would often say, “if your Daddy answered with his first response, you would never go anywhere.” So, I learned to “wait it out” and not aggravate him by asking him over and over again. On a Friday afternoon I asked Daddy if I could go to a party with my friends on Saturday night.
He agreed to me going to the party if I would help him paint his new workshop the next day. I gladly accepted the job because I wanted to go out the next evening. By the time I had finished painting, I was so exhausted that I couldn’t bear the thought of “going out”. I took a shower and turned in bed. My Daddy always had a way of proving a point.
Another great example of reading the situation is when my Daddy asked me to go with him to buy a saddle for his horse. Before we arrived, he coached me as to what my role would be while we talked about the saddle. He told me that he would do the talking and ask for my input when he cued me. When we walked in and saw the saddle, I knew it was exactly what Daddy was looking for and I knew he liked it right away. I kept silent. He talked with the gentleman about the price and condition of the saddle. Then he asked me what I thought and I responded, “I like it, however, I really like the other saddle we looked at earlier.” You see, Daddy had given me the words to say when he asked me to respond. When the gentleman heard that, he started negotiating right away. Needless to say, we left that day with a new saddle and paid exactly what Daddy wanted to pay for it.
Another great example of learning to read the situation is when Daddy went to talk with a client about her driveway. He owns AB Gravel Driveways and enjoys helping people with their drainage and driveway challenges. This particular day, he called the customer back to give her an estimate of what it would cost to take care of the driveway. She was astounded at the estimate and immediately started telling Daddy exactly what she wanted. After he quietly listened, he said, “oh, you want your driveway repaired. In order to have it fixed, it will be more.” The point Daddy was making here is that is costs more to fix something than to repair it. The client’s terminology of “fixing” really meant “repairing”.

Lessons

1. We have 2 ears and 1 mouth. Use them accordingly.
2. Say what you mean and mean what you say.
3. What people do speaks so loudly that we don’t hear what they are saying.
4. Think before you respond.