The Power of Choice | A Chauffeur's Inspiration Story

 I was going through an amazing article by 'Harvey Mackay', who was eventually delivering a speech to the large audience and he was sharing a story of a Cab Driver. The story goes this way...

I was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing I noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for me.

He handed me a laminated card and said: 'I'm Kumar, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.'

Taken aback, I read the card. It said: Kumar's Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

This blew me away. Especially when I noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Kumar said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.'

I said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.'

Kumar smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, lassi, water and orange juice.'

Almost stuttering, I said, 'I'll take a Lassi.' Handing me my drink, Kumar said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have The Hindu, Times  of India, ET and India Today.'

As we were pulling away, Kumar handed me another laminated card, 'These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.'

And as if that weren't enough, Kumar told me that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for me.

Then he advised me of the best route to my destination for that time of day. He also let me know that he'd be happy to chat and tell me about some of the sights or, if I preferred, to leave me with my own thoughts.

'Tell me, Kumar,' I was amazed and asked him, 'have you always served customers like this?'

Kumar smiled into the rear view mirror, 'No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I  spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard about power of choice one day.'

'Power of choice is that you can be a Duck or an Eagle'. 'If you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. Stop complaining!' 

'Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.'

'That hit me right,' said Kumar. 

'It is about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.'

'I am certain that has paid off for you,' I said.

'It sure has,' Kumar replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on it.'

Kumar made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.

I give this example to my audience while delivering the customer service trainings. How all of us having a choice to do wonderful customer service. 

There are Six Powerful Lessons from the story:

1. Remove your negative mindset. It doesn't allow you to be wise.

2. There are solutions to every problems, just you need to calmly think of it.

3. Happiness starts from self, it is you who has choice to make.

4. Be as creative as the world is. Creativeness can make you happy.

5. Physical appearance matters; It helps to complete the imagination with reality in true sense.

6. Your actions and efforts reflect about you, which you actually are. 

The story is narrated in native way, originally taken from Rhonda Hamilton. Picture courtesy to Google.....