The holiday season is quickly approaching and I am astonished how fast this year has gone by.  A few taglines (hash tags) hit me when I reflect about the last eleven months #thinkdifferent, #change #growth #family.  I would like to share a story from two of these.   #change-   Over the last couple of weeks, Meyer Jabara Hotels has undergone some change.  One of our Foundational Principles within our culture is “Change is Good.”  But it also honest to say, “Change can be scary”.  With it comes a lot of unknowns. But we all have to agree, “Change is a Must.”

We must change to grow as individuals and we must change to become more competitive as a company…or even to stay competitive.   The biggest part of this recent change was the promotion and relocation of five key individuals.  This was a big move.  A lot was involved when making these decisions.  Countless hours were spent on the phone and in meetings where we discussed strengths and opportunities.   It was clear we had a lot of opportunities and we needed to take advantage of them.   We needed a change.

That necessary change required us to move the right people in the right job. This change has caused a terrific energy to surface.  Exciting visions are coming into focus.  This change is going to be not just “good.”  I think #amazing is going to be appropriate.   I am happy to congratulate Denise, Dan, Keith, Eric and Marcus on their change with us within MJ.

#thinkdifferent- Over the last couple of months I have been involved in selling a property called Johnsonville.  It is a historic mill town that was once part of an eccentric millionaire’s dream.  It has fifteen historic buildings that are also in historic shape.   Several months ago we had talked about how to market the property.  It’s a hard sell, very unique and requires a lot of capital.  We had tried several things with results being average at best.  We contracted to sell the property through an online auction and three weeks prior to the auction date the site visitation statistics were not as high as I would have liked.

We needed PR and exposure but it was not in the budget.  I really wanted to see it featured in the realdeal.com.   With nothing to lose and everything to gain, I emailed the editor.  With no response I emailed him again the next day and again the following day.  Finally, I got a response…it was “NO!”.

Still determined the next day, I called Terri Tucker and she wrote an article on the history of Johnsonville.  After a couple of revisions we put a Halloween twist to it and titled it, “Want To Be Mayor? You Can Buy Your Own Town!”   Day number four, with Terri at my side, we sent off the article

to the editor and within an hour the editor called back.  It was a hit!  The once crabby editor, who would not return my emails, was fully engaged and interested.  The realdeal.com published it on a Friday and by the following day it had made it to the top tending article.  It went viral!  Two days later the Local News picked it up, then National, and then International. In all, the story was covered over 3,700 times, all over the world.  The site statistics rocketed and bidders from all around the globe showed up on auction day.

I walked away from this experience with a few great learning points.  First, it is important to listen to that little voice in your head.  Without it I would have never emailed the editor because everyone else said it couldn’t happen.   Second, it is important not to accept “no” as an answer.  If I had accepted no from the editor we would have never tried the other approach.

And third, if what you are doing isn’t working, try something else.  That is what we did with the article.  We created a story to tell.  The world wanted to read it and share it.

Have you been thinking about trying a different approach to achieving a goal?  Share your stories with us.

As the year comes to a close  – I am grateful to work with a team of individuals who continue to learn, grow and share.  Best of wishes to each of you during this holiday season.