I never know when and where I will stumble across another FUTURE 5 coach. Like the proverbial spider, I always have to be ready to pounce. Yesterday for instance......

Two young technicians spend most of the afternoon wrestling with our building's HVAC system -- cleaning it, tuning it up, preparing it for the long winter ahead. As they were finishing up (but still in my web) I asked one of them about the training required for his job. I learned he had earned his certificate at Porter and Chester, a for-profit technical training institute here in CT. Interesting, but more interesting was our discussion after I asked him about whether he thought P and C had been a good move for him.

"I was what they called a 'troubled kid' in high school," he told me. He said that he and a number of his friends had floated through high school with no thoughts about the future and no plan. "When I got to P and C I realized that I was PAYING to be there. I paid attention. Did my work. Made sure I got the most I could out of it."

I asked if P and C had lined up his job for him. "They gave me leads. But it was really all on me to go out and get my job. A lot of guys don't realize that it's not going to be handed to you. You have to take the steps to get what you want in life."

As he left our office, I congratulated myself on having signed up a new FUTURE 5 coach.