John Leindecker, a long-time CECO Sales Representative in Louisiana, couldn't be more proud of his grandson. His grandson, Calob Leindecker, who plays football for the Park View Eagles in Baton Rouge, LA, is the recipient of the 2009 Rudy Award and a $10,000 Academic Scholarship to a college of his choice. Calob's story is very different than that of other high school seniors. His is one of hope and perseverance and is truly uplifting and inspiring. To learn more about Calob's story follow any of the links below. CECO congratulates John and Calob on such an amazing achievement!

http://www.highschoolrudyawards.com/content/99_4/News.aspx

http://www.highschoolrudyawards.com/

http://www.highschoolrudyawards.com/Nominees/29/Calob_Leindecker.aspx

HOUSTON, TEXAS. January 28, 2010 – For over 10 years, CECO’s ACTT division has provided testing, training and consulting services to compressor operators and pipeline crews, helping to make field operations safer and more efficient. CECO, the Houston-based compressor and engine optimization experts, announced today that the ACTT unit will now be known as CECO Training & Technical Services Division.

Snow comes to Houston only now and then. Today, however, Houston is experiencing the earliest snowfall on record!

Unlike our northern counterparts, Houston has a way of shutting down when snow and ice begin falling from the sky. Kids are released from school early so they can play in the snow for the first time in their lives travel home safely. Adults skip out of the office for a few moments to toss snowballs at coworkers. Some (but not here) find themselves sent home early from the office as well, only to find themselves on roadways full of people who have no clue how to drive in even the tiniest amount of snow and ice.



At least the flakes in the air and snow covered rooftops might make you hum to yourself, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…” Enjoy it while it lasts, because tomorrow we’re back in the 50’s!

Mr. Jim Hutton's suggestions for career enhancement, as presented at the 2008 GMC.

SUGGESTIONS FOR CAREER ENHANCEMENT

1. Be honest and have integrity
2. Have a good reputation and keep it
3. Love your work
4. Improve your people skills
5. Be a good listener
6. Improve your letter writing skills
7. Confirming in writing all important information
8. Send the right signals out and you will get the right signals back
9. Keep all your promises
10. Keep in touch
11. Improve your telephone manners

This Post highlights Mr. Hutton's seventh suggestion, to confirm in writing all important information.

Confirm, in writing, all important information, not only to avoid misunderstandings, but also so the recipient will remember more.

I couldn’t use this chart in my book because I was unable to determine the source.

Studies have revealed the following about information retention:



This tabulation shows how much information is retained after (3) hours, (24) hours, and (72) hours, depending on how it was presented. From this you will note that if someone hears something only, after (72) hours they retain only 2%. If they see it only, they retain 10% after (72) hours – but if they hear and see it, they retain 50% after (72) hours. If you tell someone something and also put it in writing, they will retain 25 times as much information as if you just talk only.

I find the numbers in this table astonishing – even frightening. To realize that if you just tell someone something verbally that after three days they will remember only 2% of what you told him. This is sobering. In my early days, I failed to confirm very much. – Now I do.

Also, you should always strive to avoid misunderstandings because when misunderstandings occur, it seems that everyone loses. It can cause you embarrassment and can even cost lives. For example, maximum cylinder or vessel working pressure is transmitted only verbally to someone and not confirmed in writing.

Confirm in writing all important information.

Jim Hutton's 6th suggestion for career enhancement urges us to improve your letter writing skills.

Very few people seem to be able to write letters anymore. Perhaps e-mail has contributed to this.

Our sales people were all university graduates, but their draft letters to customers were pretty grim.
To help them, I always asked them to put down on paper what they wanted to write and to give it to me for revision, but I always told them to be absolutely honest in what they included.

Letters you write are a reflection of you and your company. Also, when you send a letter or e-mail, you lose control of it and you do not know who will read it besides the recipient. His boss or someone very high in, or even outside, the company may be given a copy. Think carefully about what you include in letters and also how you write them and the words you choose. Some words are inflammatory and should be avoided. Read your letters over again and again and don’t hesitate to revise. If the letter is complex, or if other people have been involved in what you are writing about, suggest that they read your draft and make comments, especially for accuracy.

Keep in mind also that virtually all organizations have internal politics and occasional jurisdictional disputes; therefore, study and give a lot of thought before including critical or unflattering comments in your written communication. Printed messages have a life of their own and can be forwarded to other people and can be used to crucify, embarrass, or otherwise make someone or some department look bad.

Other suggestions for writing good letters
• Don’t play games.
• Be careful with copies. Send copies judiciously.
• When confirming agreements, don’t slip something in that wasn’t specifically agreed to.
• Avoid inflammatory words.
• While composing the letter, practice empathy. Try to place yourself in the recipient’s shoes and evaluate how you would interpret the information included and think about what your reader wishes to know.
• Think about how you can best serve the reader’s interest.
• Never talk down. Use temperate language if writing upward or to customers.
• Make sure all names are spelled correctly.
• Make sure titles are correct.
• Make sure grammar and spelling are correct.
• Use soft language. Say we believe, we feel, or we think rather than making strong or rash statements.
• At the top of your letter, in the reference, include relevant information such as:
o Subject
o Purchase Order Number
o Name of Plant
o Contract or Job Number
o List of previous meetings, phone calls, or correspondence on this subject.

This enables the recipients to know immediately what you are writing about. It also aids in accurate filing.
• Keep sentences and paragraphs short.
• Use simple language – a province of clear thinkers.
• Tabulate technical information rather than include in sentence form. If lengthy, include it on a separate attached page.
• Do not include in-house terms without identifying.
• Forget I, me, my, mine, we, and ours. Substitute you and yours.
• The opening sentence must, besides compelling attention, obtain the reader’s confidence and must radiate the “you” attitude. It must also make clear that he is the one to benefit from the message.
• The closing sentence should be forceful and make it clear what you expect the reader to do.

There are many good books on letter writing. One of the best to help with sentence structure is “Elements of Style” by Strunk & White. Another good reference is “The Elements of Business Writing” by Blake and Bly. Take great pains to learn how to write good letters. It will pay dividends.

Jim Hutton's 5th suggestion for career enhancement is to be a good listener.

In 1973, I went with the local manager to call on the maintenance foreman of a large overseas oil company.

On his desk was a plaque with this inscription in Spanish. Since I did not read Spanish, I asked him what the inscription said. He said it epitomized his life history. Then he translated it for me.

After I heard the translation, I told our host that it also epitomized my life history and it still does today. People, in general, just don’t listen – and people, in general, do not know how to listen. Most people are lousy listeners, but technical people cannot afford to be poor listeners.

The eye has been the favored child in school while the ear has been left to fend for itself. The neglected ear performs poorly in the world where it must work overtime. It is estimated that we listen at about 25% efficiency. How we do our jobs, how we get along with other people, how we get along with our superiors, what we eat, the medicine we take, what we do to our hair, what we wear, how we furnish our homes, the moral codes we adopt, how we vote – are all greatly influenced by the way we listen.

One hundred technical workers in 47 states were asked to rate reading, writing, speaking, and listening in order of their importance on their jobs.

The results were:
Reading 4%
Writing 11%
Speaking 22%
Listening 63%

These statistics probably apply to most groups.

To better understand what is being spoken, keep in mind something about the person talking because everyone, when he is speaking, is to a large degree talking about himself. The speaker will unconsciously reflect into his words his inner feelings, his idiosyncrasies, his preconceptions, his assumptions, his background, and his prejudices.

A good example of poor listening by most people is what happens when several individuals from the same company or group attend a meeting with a customer or with their own colleagues. When you caucus later to discuss what you heard in the meeting, you will invariably have as many versions as you had people in the gathering. Sometimes there is such a divergence that you are quite sure that some of the individuals were in a different meeting altogether.

Some suggestions for improving your listening skill:
• Bear in mind listening is hard work and requires real effort
• Pay attention to the speaker and put his needs first
• Let him know that you are listening
• Be empathetic and responsive
• Look at the speaker and stay alert
• Listen for ideas
• Suspend your own judgment while listening
• Ask clarifying or follow-up questions when the speaker stops talking

We often fail to listen because:
• We are too busy.
• We already have our minds made up.
• We are uninterested or day dreaming.
• The problem is either too simple or too complex.

To show how important listening is, consider the following:

This is a true experience. Several years ago (in 1968) we were working on a large project in the Soviet Union. Other firms were involved and their presidents were leading the discussions. Following the conclusion of one of our negotiating visits, I was traveling out to London where I lived and at the Moscow airport encountered one of these presidents whom I knew. The plane was not crowded, seats were not assigned, and when we boarded the flight I sat down across the aisle from him. As soon as we were airborne, he invited me to move over and sit by him. I began the conversation by asking a question about his career, where he grew up, etc. When he finished responding, I asked another question. This was repeated during the next 3 ½ hours. I made a few comments, but mostly I asked questions and listened intently to his replies. Upon our arrival, he was met by his London manager and continued back to the U.S. A week or so later, I had lunch with this London manager. He told me that his president said I was the best conversationalist he had ever met. The only thing I did was to ask questions, to listen, and to let him know that I was listening. Even today, even today, because of the answers I received, I probably remember more about this president than 98% of the salesmen who ever called on him – even those who saw him over a long period of time.

Two good books on listening are “Your Most Enchanted Listener” by Wendel Johnson and “Are You Listening?” by Nichols and Stevens.

Work hard at being a good listener.