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NUGGETS FOR THE NOGGIN
What
Do Teachers Make?
By Jim “Gymbeaux”
Brown, September 2, 2013
Today I was sent a
YouTube link called What Do Teachers
Make? You can find it at: ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?
It caused me to
think about being a teacher. I do not
have a degree from a University that indicates I am a teacher or that I
graduated with a degree in education. In
spite of this personal shortcoming, I am and have been a teacher and am very
proud of it.
There is an
excellent web site regarding left-brain and right-brain teachers and students. http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/left-brainright-brain
Again, I highly recommend that you go
there to read and hopefully learn.
You would think
that a left-brain person would make the best teachers because they would be
detail orientated, like the quiet classroom and structured agenda for teaching
and you would probably be right.
In reading the
above article it reinforced my belief that I am a right-brain person in a
left-brain world. I like to color
outside the lines. I like music. I like to write. I like to start something and see it finished
in the shortest period of time. I like
to think up “stuff” and then have others finish it not to be confused with
starting a project and handing it off for others to finish.
Having said that
and in spite of that – I am a teacher.
What do I make as a teacher? If
your immediate thought is in reference to money, I don’t and never have made a
great deal of money doing what I love to do – teach. I first taught my military skill in the U. S.
Coast Guard. At the risk of sounding
immodest, I thought I was pretty good at what I did in the Coast Guard. That does not mean I was perfect only that I
was pretty good. The Coast Guard
selected me to be one of the instructors (teachers) of my elected skill to
others. I jokingly told my students that
I wanted them to be “mini-me’s” long before that term was ever used in the
movies. Again, it was not out of
immodesty, it was simply out of the belief that I believed in doing things the
right way all the time!
Then I became a
real estate agent and then broker and discovered that I had skills from the
Coast Guard that easily applied to the real estate business and that many of
the agents in my office did not have them.
As a result they often looked to the “new guy” for help, especially on
anything dealing with computers.
Therefore, even though I was a brand new agent there was a degree of
acceptance because I was able to “help” someone else get what they want. While I had never heard of Zig Ziglar (www.ZigZiglar.com) or Jeffrey Gitomer (www.JeffreyGitomer.com), that
became my mission in life, helping others.
I first heard Zig Ziglar say it, “To get what you want in life, just help
someone else get what they want!”
I lived by that statement for the next 20 or so years. Then I heard Jeffrey Gitomer literally put an
exclamation mark on it by saying, “To get everything you want in life, just
help someone else get what they want, FIRST!”
I created my Life
Mission Statement which is: “To help
people do what they do to do it better!”
Then I used Joe Tye’s
Direction-Deflection-Question (DDQ) (www.JoeTye.com) and would ask myself the
following question:
Is what I am about
to say or do consistent with my desire to help people do what they do to do it
better? That made the decision process very simple!
Some people learn “stuff”
and then keep it close to the vest in fear that by sharing the “stuff” someone
else may become better at what they do than they are. Others learn “stuff” and then immediately
want to share what they have learned with others because they know that it is
not only good for the person, it is good for the company the person works for,
it is good for the business the person works in, and therefore ultimately good
for the country. Given the two choices,
I chose the latter by sharing what I knew; definitely a win-win for everyone!
So…..what do I
make by being a teacher? Hopefully the
agents I taught…….
- Were good and honest real estate agents
- Empowered people to buy homes without stress
- Empowered people to sell homes without stress
- Had lives worth living*
- Had businesses worth owning*
- Had careers worth having*
- Always did the right thing, especially when no one was watching
- Would not guess; they would seek to understand the question, then find the answer
- Would be learning based
- Would put the customer’s interests above all other parties to the transaction including their own, especially their own
- Would share their knowledge with others
My reward was not
in the paycheck; it never will be for teachers.
My paycheck came daily in the smiles on the faces of successful
people. When they received honors and
awards for their business I felt like I had a small part to play in that
success.
It is all about
numbers. I teach someone and in turn
they teach someone who teaches someone, etc. etc. etc.
I found the
following poem in an abandoned home; unfortunately I know not who wrote it.
Measure of a Man (or Woman)
Not – how did he die?
But – how did he live?
Not – what did he gain?
But – what did he give?
These are the units to measure the worth
Of a man as a man regardless of birth.
Not – what was his station? But – had he a heart?
And how did he play his God-given part?
Was he ever ready with a word of good cheer,
To bring back a smile to banish a tear?
Not – what was his church? Nor – what was his creed?
But – had he befriended those really in need?
Not – what did the sketch in the newspaper say?
But – how many were sorry when he passed away?
And when my time comes I would add the following to the
above and ask each agent the following questions:
Are the people I served better off because of my
professionalism?
Is my family and I more prepared for what lies ahead?
Am I a better REALTOR and more importantly, person?
Am I happy because our paths have crossed?
I pray the answers are all YES!
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