What do these powerful four words mean to me? Simple I think and something that everybody should live by, let’s break this down;
Be Great!
As some of you may or may not know I am an Ontario Amateur Football Official and these two words we say to one another before every game, “BE GREAT”. When you are on that field you need to Be Great for yourself and for the other officials that you are working with. Could this apply with trucking, sure it can. Be Great applies to anything we do in life, just Be Great in what you do. Be Great as a parent, as a partner, just simply Be Great.
Be Great in trucking. It starts with accepting your assignment, arriving to work on time, doing a proper pre-trip inspection and being professional on the road. Be Great and communicate with your dispatchers and importantly Be Great when you talk to your customers.
Let’s talk about how do you Be Great when you are driving down the highway and you have passenger vehicles cutting in front of you all day and all night long, Be Great is tough, right? Being a professional driver means you wise above at times the ignorance of a G class driver. Easier said than done right, at times you can be pushed to the limit, you count to 10, you ease off on the gas pedal, and you change lanes and by doing those simple steps you will Be Great and you have defused the situation.
Be Safe!
I currently work for a transport company and when I transitioned to a safety roll with the company it was ran by an older gentleman who quite frankly I thought was a crusty old man. The first of many lessons I learned from this crusty old man was “Be Safe”. I quickly learned that at the end of every conversation with a driver or to anybody he was talking with he would always say, Be Safe. Like I said the first of many lessons I learned from the gentleman who quickly because my friend and my mentor. I found myself listening to every word he said, with great intensity and passion. This crusty old man, volunteered for 20 + years and ran a soup kitchen on Christmas day where he helped feed the homeless in a struggling Toronto community. I had the opportunity to bring my teenage children down to help volunteer and see that I pegged this crusty old man all wrong, he had a heart of gold and he too was passionate about safety.
I knew I was part of the succession plan when Paul was ready to retire. Every day I found myself listening to his stories, him sharing his life lessons with me, his battles and at the end of conversation he would tell me Be Safe. Paul Davison has since passed away but I still keep his identification badge on my board as a reminder of not a crusty old man but a man with a heart of gold, time for everybody and just wanted everybody to Be Safe.
In closing
You and only you have the power to Be Great in what you do every day. Look at every day as a clean canvas and you are the artist, paint your picture and when you paint it Be Great! Remember whenever you are in your truck, around your truck, with your kids always Be Safe!
Look for next month’s blog, “A driver, your best salesperson for your company”
Be Great! Be Safe!
Gerald Carroll
