About

Can-Do Attitude

A lot people don’t achieve their dreams. Why? Because when the opportunity arises, they said, I can’t afford it, or I can’t do that. Those who do achieve their dreams, don’t made those kinds of statements. They have a fundamentally different thought process. How can I afford that? Or how can I do that? The dichotomy here is I can’t. vs How can?

This is Can-Do, and it forces your mind to figure out the how. If you say I can’t, then your mind automatically shuts down. You can’t. Game over.

Not here! Not with Penguin. We can. Can-do.

For Penguin Team Members: Getting adequate rest is important to maintain a positive outlook and a can-do attitude. A well rounded and healthy lifestyle is important for a work-life balance. Expressing gratitude and smiling also help to cultivate a can do attitude.

For customers: Can-do is huge! If you are dealing with a problem, you can be certain our technicians will have a Can-Do attitude. We WILL find the solutions for you.

Honesty

Penguin will be fair and honest with all. We are fair with customers and with our employees. If something is promised to you by any authorized manager, as the owner of the company I give you my word, every promise will be honored. I will be 100% fair and honest with you. Be fair and honest with me.

For members of the Penguin team, honesty means being honest with everyone. Being honest in all aspects of your life. Being honest and fair with the company. Not lying or stealing from the company in any way. Honesty means being honest with your clients. It means keeping your commitments with your clients. If you tell a client you are going to be at their house at a certain time, you need to fulfill that commitment.

A while back a technician break a yard decoration, he was afraid of the consequences, so he didn’t say anything and acted like he didn’t do it. Taking a “it was already like that” position. That is the exact opposite of honesty. When Penguin management found out about the situation, they obviously made it right with the customer, and that employee is no longer with us.

Honestly means taking ownership of ones own mistakes. Someone who habitually finds excuses for his or her failure is not being honest with themselves. If you make a mistake, that is not a catastrophic failure. However, being unwilling to honestly accept ownership of one’s mistakes can be a catastrophic failure.

For Penguin team members, honesty means being absolutely honest with your company CC card, fuel card, petty cash, etc. Honestly means being honest with clients and offering them fair prices, (not too low and not too high) and only selling customers services and products that we, in good faith, think will actually benefit them.

Honesty also means being open with issues if you have them, and not letting them fester. It’s hard to focus with festering issues. If you have issues with the company, with management, or with coworkers, present them in a respectful manner. It’s helpful if you bring ideas about solutions along with your issues.

Penguin maintains a zero toleration policy on stealing. Stealing from the company has many forms, from unauthorized use of the vehicle, to servicing accounts under the table, to using company products for personal use. If something is wrong, you will probably feel uneasy about it. If anything makes you uncomfortable, the best course of action is to call and talk to management. No secrets. Secrets never last. You can be terminated for dishonesty.

For customers: If you ever feel that any member of the Penguin team has been less than honest with you, please call. We WILL make it right.

See Failing Forward, (John C. Maxwell)

Ride for the Brand

This value is about loyalty.

“Ride for the Brand” is an expression from the cattle ranching days of the American “Old West.” Cattle are branded to indicate ownership.

When a cowboy “Rides for the Brand” they ride totally for that ranch. They were fully committed to, and understood their personal success was intrinsically linked to the success of the ranch.

Riding for the brand means loyalty, dedication and pride for Penguin. It means being unselfish, thinking of the company and not just yourself. We will benefit and succeed together. And together our success will be greater than if it were “every man for himself.”

An oxen can pull 8,000 pounds alone. Two oxen can pull 28,000 pounds when yoked together.

Everyone, even part-time employees, can exhibit this value. The essence of this value, is the concept that no employee will ever do anything to harm the reputation or the success of Penguin.

For customers: It’s nice to know that Penguin’s team is unified, and that we will all work together to ensure you, as the customer, get the absolute best results.

Hard Work

Most people admire the attribute of hard work, but what exactly is a hard worker? We believe a hard worker is someone who possess a producer mindset. We believe the opposite of the producer mindset is the entitlement mentality.

In many parts of our nation and society, a culture of entitlement is taking over. Many wish to subsist on the labors and efforts of others, rather than taking responsibility for themselves. Those who buy in to this culture typically have lost the value of gratitude, and have replaced it with an entitled mentality. These kinds of individuals would see their employer/company in terms of the enemy, or at least with some degree of enmity. They usually have an attitude of how much can I get? or what can the company do for me? They are extremely quick to become angry, or irritated when perks are cut or when the company establishes a policy they feel hinders or inconveniences them. Because of this, they are poor company in times of trouble.

We believe the fundamental core of American industry is the opposite of the entitlement mentality. It is the culture of the producer mindset. Those who buy into this culture are they who take responsibility for their own support and well being. They are willing and eager to work hard because they see hard work as an opportunity to improve their situation. They are also positive and grateful. Grateful first and foremost for the opportunity to work. Those with the producer mindset are usually high producers.

In a work relationship, they subscribe to the philosophy of mutual cooperation. They don’t feel as though they were given a job. They were hired to do a job. The employer has a responsibly to pay punctually and in accordance to their agreed upon terms of employment. An employer who cheats his employees, is dishonest or pays late is immoral. However, producers understand that the doors swings both ways and apply that same standard to themselves. They have been hired to a job, and they don’t cut corners. They don’t lie on their time card and claim more hours then they actually worked. They don’t use the company resources for unauthorized activity.

The Producer mentality and the entitlement mentality are fundamentally antagonistic. They can not co-exist.

For employees, this hard work and producer cultures will ensure that you high producers are paid very well. Low producers will be paid very little. Obviously high producers like this and tend to thrive in this environment. Low producers have a choice. If low producers subscribe to the entitlement mindset, they will complain that the company is being unfair. They would be happy to see the results-based compensation plan replaced with a everyone paid the same plan. They will also be bitter, and look outwardly to find the problem.

However, if low producers subscribe to the culture of hard work, and the producer mindset, they will look inwardly for the problem and solution. They will not petition to change results based compensation plans because they will have the foresight to understand that they can improve. They can become a top producers and get paid as a top producers. They will be grateful for the opportunity to produce.

Producers do not feel that they are doing the company a favor. Nor do they feel that the company is doing them a favor. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship where both parties have a duty, and at the end of the transaction both parties will have been benefited. Those of the entitlement culture view the company with enmity in a win/loose paradigm. Producers see the company in terms of lets both win together.

In some cases producers may branch off and start their own company but not always. The financial risks and emotion hardships of starting a company are very real and often very high. Many producers see the company as vehicle, in which they can excel.

For customers: This culture is very beneficial. As a customer you can be certain that each technician who services your home or business will be honest with you, and will not cut corners. They are willing to work hard, which means they will go above and beyond when needed. Plus, you would never want a mediocre technician to service your house. Penguin’s culture of hard work and the producer mindset will quickly weed out these kinds of individuals. This is good for the customer.

Respect

Penguin staff are respectful of everyone. We are respectful to clients and colleagues alike. There is no place in this organization for gossip, drama, backbiting, or belittling another member of our team. If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything. Be respectful of each other. If a problem arises, don’t be quick to blame or jump to conclusions. Our objective will always be to fix the problem—who cares who caused the problem. We all make mistakes.

We are respectful of our clients, even behind their back. Respect for clients means no slanderous speech of any kind. We don’t speak ill of customers among ourselves.

For customers: You can be confident, Penguin will always be respectful, to you and about you. To your face, and behind your back.