Customer Service - Personal/Professional Achievement - Telephone Skills

Articles About Roy

As seen in Marietta Daily Journal

By Karen Mortensen
Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer

“It's just a game.”

We've all heard the phrase before and can agree in most instances, but you won't convince Marietta author Roy Lantz of its unwavering truth.

Had it not been for a game of horseshoes, he may never have been fired from a job in the mid 90's. But then again, he may not have written his most recent book.

“Never Beat the Boss at Horseshoes … 102 Ways to Pitch Ringer after Ringer in the Game of Life” [ Buy it Now ] was released earlier this year ad tells of "winning in the game of life."

“It's about recognizing life is a game, and that it's a whole lot more fun when you're winning,” he said. “The book is jam-packed with ideas on how to do that.”

Lantz, now 60, beat his boss in horseshoes one sunny Saturday at a company picnic and was unexpectedly terminated the next Friday. He says this led him to the theme of the book.

However, he started developing its principles much earlier, when he served in the Marines as a radio operator.

“Some interesting things happened while I was in the Marines,” Lantz continued. “I learned first, we can't control everything that happens, but you can control your response; and second, you need to expect the best from every situation.”

After a short stint as a juvenile probation officer following the Marines, Lantz took his new philosophies and turned them into something more tangible, something that could help others reach the same realizations. In 1986, he formed Roy Lantz Seminars in Marietta, a speaking and training company he still operates today. Giving motivational speeches on personal and professional development and customer service, he's visited five continents.

“I've (still) gotta do Africa, and I don't guess I'll get booked in Antarcitica,” her joked.

After his company was well-established, Lantz began work on his first book.

“The Care and Keeping of Customers” was released in 1996, and gave straight-forward tips and suggestions on customer service. Metaphors, humor and “quotivations” – quotes with an accompanying story that fleshes out the statement – were reserved for his next work.

Appropriately called innings, each chapter in “Never Beat the Boss” is not-so-subtly compared to a division of play in horseshoes. So, other than the author's mysterious fate after his victory in the pit, how do the book's insightful life lessons relate to the game?

“I'm convinced there are 10 things we can do to win in the game of life,” Lantz said. “And those are the same 10 principles applied in the game of horseshoes. You can't win at horseshoes unless you play well in the pit, and it's the same thing in life.”

“When I beat (my boss) I was on top of the world, but he kind of put me in the pits when he fired me. I could use those same 10 principles I used in horseshoes not to get down about it.”

In addition to this book, which Lantz says he is doing well in five local stores, it looks like he might have another recipe for success. Using his stories and the recipes of his wife, Bonnie, the two are teaming up to write a “motivational cookbook” called “Like is Like a Crab Cake . . . It's the Lumps that Make it Sweet.” It's scheduled to be released in 2007.

He may never know the reason for his termination after the round of horseshoes or if it really had anything to do with his boss being a sore loser, but Lantz says he wouldn't have pitched the ringers any other way.

“It's one of those serendipitous things I'm glad happened,” he said. “Otherwise, I wouldn't have had a title for my book.”

You can find “Never Beat the Boss at Horseshoes . . .” [ Buy it Now ] at Avery Gallery, Bass Hair Salon, The Framery and Fairway Golf Center. For more information on Roy Lantz Seminars, contact (770) 560-1082.

As seen in Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 9, 2005

His basic take on life hasn't changed.

The motivational sneakier, author and trainer from Marietta has taken his positive spin on life all over the world, conducting seminars and speaking on "winning the game of life."

"I have a real passion for teaching life skills,'' Lantz said. "People don't realize how much they can control their lives."

Lantz said 10 years ago he was doing contract speaking for a company and went to a company picnic, where he beat the boss at horseshoes. A week later the boss fired him.

Coincidence? Lantz thinks not, and he's used the experience as a title of a book. His self-published Never Beat the Boss at Horseshoes... [ Buy it Now ] is a collection of 102 stories about choosing your response to what life offers.

"It's all about accepting responsibility for your life and enjoying life," he said. "I couldn't control I was fired, but I could control my response."

This year Lantz launched Magnolia Pines Press. He plans to specialize in books on personal growth and professional development. His book is on sale at Memory Lane General Store, the Framery, Bass Hair Salon and Avery Gallery.

- Leslie Everton Brice

As seen in Frostburg State University Profile, Fall 2005

It was a company picnic where Roy Lantz (Class of '71) learned a valuable, Iife-changing lesson. After watching a bevy of his co-workers lose graciously to his boss in an innocent game of horseshoes, Lantz stepped up, pitched his best and publicly beat the ''man in charge'' in front of a group of potato salad-eating onlookers.

The next Friday, Lantz was fired. Coincidence? Lantz never knew for sure, but he did know he could use the unfortunate instance in a positive way. Lantz is now fulfilling a dream by being a full-time motivational speaker and author.

His latest book, appropriately titled Never Beat the Boss at Horseshoes...102 Ways to Pitch Ringer After Ringer in the Game of Life, [ Buy it Now ] gives inspirational thoughts, QUOTE-avations (inspirational, motivational quotations) and life skills. The book is chock full of quotes from Aristotle to Mae West, with Lantz giving his unique, positive perspective on life when it falls "into the pits." (He even gives a shout out to his alma mater in a section on the value of education.)

Positive thinking is nothing new for Lantz who, in eighth grade, was voted the Optimist Club's "Boy of the Year." During his days at Frostburg, he admits to being the "go-to guy" for advice among his classmates. He served as sophomore class president (although a lack of motivation for schoolwork cut his term short) and was a founding father of Alpha Delta Chi fraternity. He also met his wife of 33 years, Bonnie (Class of '71), who works as a division manager for a large recycling company near the couple's Atlanta, GA. home.

For the past decade, Lantz has visited every continent giving motivational talks and conducting his goal-setting seminar, What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? And he practices what he preaches.

"It's important to write down one good thing about your day," he says, flipping through a bulging day planner, marked-up my bates in miniscule handwriting.

To find his own motivation, Lantz immerses himself (a minimum of 15 minutes each day) in the writings of fellow motivational speakers like Norman Vincent Peale (The Power of Positive Thinking), Dennis Kimbro (What Makes the Great Great and Think and Grow Rich) and Les Brown (Live Your Dreams).

His next project will be both inspirational and delectable - a motivational cookbook inspired by his wife's seafood recipes called Life is Like a Crabcake...It's the Lumps that Make it Sweet.

Never Beat the Boss at Horseshoes… [ Buy it Now ] is available online at www.roylantz.com or amazon.com

-- Ty DeMartino

As seen in St. Paul (MN) Pioneer Press, July 31, 2005

If you are also hiding inside these days -- or stuck in airports waiting for flights out -- you might want some practical reading to keep you company. The following titles will help you develop a job search campaign any headhunter would admire...

...Finally, if all of this job-search literature is getting a bit heavy. you might want to refresh yourself with something on the lighter side. Never Beat the Boss at Horseshoes: 102 Ways to Pitch Ringer After Ringer in the Game of Life (2005, $16.95, available at www.Magnoliapinespress.com) [ Buy it Now ] by Roy Lantz is not a job search how-to but more of a DIY guide for attitude adjustment.

Lantz, a motivational speaker and Marine Corps veteran from Marietta, GA, uses the style of small-town columnist to weave personal stories into short essays about success and personal effort. Each one-page entry begins with a quote and brings the reader through a few paragraphs to arrive at an understated but distinct lesson for living. Like Other books of this nature, it's not an all-at- once read, but more of a companion for a few weeks of your career transition journey.

Whichever titles you choose for your summer reading, stay cool and enjoy yourself. A job search is somehow easier when you've had a chance to relax.

--Amy Lindgren

We are pleased to have with us Roy Lantz, renowned customer service expert and motivational speaker. He recently published "Never Beat the Boss at Horseshoes..." Welcome to Reader Views.

Irene: Roy, you recently authored an interesting book called "Never Beat the Boss at Horseshoes..." [ Buy it Now ] – a book that is supposed to help us recognize that life is a game. Tell us a little more insight into your concept.

Roy: Remember how, as a child, you were constantly reminded to "Play by the rules" when you were involved in a game? It's interesting that The Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus lists over five dozen synonyms for "rule", all of which can apply in one way or another to the daily activities of life. And what about the granddaddy of rules, "The Golden Rule", that, unfortunately, not enough of us are willing to embrace?

Whether it be directive, order, act, law, decree, statute, canon, commandment, edict, ordinance or injunction, there are plenty of "rules" that, at least nominally, are designed to provide guidance and a degree of order to our lives. All of the games we play, from the most chaotic "extreme sports", to the more civilized games like chess, to the more "proper" sports of, say, polo and cricket, are governed, at least in theory, by rules. But do you remember the first time you declared, "Rules are meant to be broken?" And though all games have their dominant players, nobody wins all the time. Games, by definition, will produce winners and losers, and the participants themselves determine which they will be.

In life there are a multitude of rules, some of which we may choose to follow, some of which we may not. There is chaos and there is order. There are winners and there are losers. There is choice. In other words, life is a game, and it's a whole lot more fun when you're doing what it takes to win.

Irene: Okay, so I'm a rebel at heart. I don't like "rules" so yes, I do remember declaring "rules are meant to be broken" and I still declare the same. (laugh) What words of wisdom to you have for me and all the others that feel the same?

Roy: There is a stop light at the end of our street where it intersects with a four lane road, and directly opposite our light is another on the other side of the road. There is probably a half-mile visibility in each direction on the four lane. I am Amazed (with a capital A) when I approach that light at 4:30 or 5:00 on the morning – which happens frequently as I head toward the airport – how often I will see a car sitting there, waiting for the light to turn green before making a left hand turn, when there is not another vehicle anywhere in sight. Making that left turn on red is against the traffic "rules" – sitting there under those circumstances is to me, against the "rules" of logic!

The waiting-for-the-light-to-turn person I just cited also is violating what I would call the "rule" of common sense. I'm not saying he or she doesn't have any common sense. In fact, they probably have quite a bit, since they've obviously chosen not to use much of it! So, Irene, for you and all your fellow rebels, I say, "Go for it!!"

Irene: What inspired you to write this book?

Roy: In 1996 my first book, The Care and Keeping of Customers [ Buy it Now ], was published. It contains over 80 specific things that an organization of any size or type can do to improve its relationship with its customers, both internal and external. It was based upon the over twenty years of hands-on, real life customer service experiences I had up until then. I had a message to share that might help other organizations and I wanted to share it.

Ten years later I realized that I had over five decades of real-life, hands-on experience in life, and that I had a message to share that might help other people and I wanted to share it. Many years ago I committed to paper a statement of purpose for my being on the planet…"to use my optimism and enthusiasm to teach and inspire others, so that the world of all those whose lives I touch, directly and indirectly, will be a better one". Never Beat the Boss at Horseshoes…102 Ways to Pitch Ringer after Ringer in the Game of Life [ Buy it Now ] is a way to help me fulfill that purpose.

Irene: Your statement of purpose is very dynamic. Tell us about the importance of having a statement of purpose.

Roy: I remember the question and answer section of the "Baltimore Catechism" that for years and years was used in parochial schools. It asked the question "What is your purpose in life?" And I vividly remember the answer – "To know, love, and serve God." That answer saw me through the formative years, though as I grew older I realized that it wasn't enough. It remains for me a vitally important component of why I'm here, but it's no longer nearly specific enough. Indeed, my feeling is that "To know love, and serve God" would be a noble ambition for all six billion of us sharing this wonderful planet. But I also feel that we all have a specific purpose that is not universally shared. Others may have a similar purpose, but our individual reason for being here is for us to discover.

Irene: In what ways could we bring our attention to really finding our purpose in life when sometimes we are scattered or feel defeated?

Roy: Discovering (or perhaps uncovering – it is there – we need only to find it) our purpose is one of the most meaningful activities in which we can engage. It makes setting goals so much easier – we need only ask if a proposed goal is congruent with our purpose. If so, it's probably a good goal. In The Power of Purpose, author Richard J. Leider makes this important observation, "Our purpose starts with the acceptance of the basic truth that who we are and what we do does make a difference." Once that truth is accepted, you can begin to identifying your purpose. Start by listing your unique personal qualities. Are you…tolerant, patient, courageous, kind, assertive, persuasive, committed, responsible, responsive, caring, creative, trusting, empathetic, intelligent, decisive, humorous, self-reliant, knowledgeable, kind, persistent, dynamic, wise, organized, honest, resourceful?

This is not the time to be humble – list all your unique positive personal qualities. We call these the "I AM" words.

Now list how you could express those unique positive personal qualities. We call these the "I CAN" words. Can you…initiate, teach, help, show, support, develop, advise, plan, produce, lead, inspire, solve, persuade, create, establish, implement, organize, influence, motivate, care, identify, communicate, guide, promote, articulate, foster, visualize, manage, direct, encourage?

Now take one or two or three "I AM" words and combine them with "I CAN" words to begin to develop your statement of purpose. I've already shared mine, and here is a couple more to use as examples:

"My purpose in life is to demonstrate through example and teaching the way a responsible person should live and to influence all those I work with to emulate that example."

"My purpose in life is to use my life's experiences and beliefs to help my kids and their kids to become contributing, happy, positive people."

Irene: You relate life to a game of horseshoes. Why horseshoes and not baseball or football?

Roy: Great question, Irene. Horseshoes chose itself as my metaphor for the game of life! I started my business, Roy Lantz Seminars, in 1986 and in 1996 we signed an agreement to do international contract speaking for a Norwegian company with an Atlanta office. In June of that year we had a company picnic at the wonderful Stone Mountain Park, just outside Atlanta. Everyone was having a great time, but occasionally I'd see a co-worker slink sullenly, or angrily, or confused (but never smiling) from the area of the horseshoe pits. Finally, I stopped one of them and asked him what was going on down there. It seems that the boss, a tall, strapping Norwegian, was badly beating all who dared take him on in a game of horseshoes. And, even more infuriating, his attitude in victory was apparently not as gracious as it might have been.

Now, I'm not the world's greatest horseshoe player, but I'd been playing in my back yard for twenty years, so I had a pretty good game. Hating to see my friends depressed, and, as a former Marine, ever-cognizant of National Pride, I decided to take the boss on. And take him on I did! Much to the delight of my co-workers, I handily beat the boss at horseshoes. This was on a Saturday.

The following Friday he fired me! Now I don't know that my unfortunate fall from grace was caused by the horseshoe incident (though he was pretty upset…), but I do know that I had the perfect metaphor and title for my book!

Irene: It sounds like getting fired was the best thing that could have happened to you. It gave you the opportunity to go forward in a direction that may not have happened if you didn't get fired – you may still have been "stuck" doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. Aside from getting "fired," what other ways can a person redirect their course in life?

Roy: One of the most powerful ways is to do the exercise we just discussed and begin to think in terms of their purpose. Once a person begins to believe that they are here for a reason and then begins to identify that reason, it's like putting a rudder on a boat that previously had no steering mechanism. Getting fired was only a glitch on my life's radar screen because I knew what my life's purpose was.

Irene: Being a motivational speaker, you have traveled the world giving seminars and keynote speeches about universal truths. Please give us some insight what these truths are. Roy: A couple hundred years ago German philosopher Immanuel Kant suggested that we live our life as if our every act were to become a Universal Law. If I may be so bold, I suggest that doing so is impossible. There can be no new Universal Law or Universal Truths – there are certainly potential new perspectives on them, or perhaps different ways to present them, but the Laws (Truths) themselves are timeless and timely. So my recommendation would be that we live our life as if our every act conforms to, or is congruent with, a Universal Law.

For example, no matter where I go, from Boise to Brazil, the Law of Attraction manifests itself. It says simply that we will bring into our lives people, circumstances and events that correspond to our dominant way of thinking. We see evidence of this all the time – have you noticed how negative people tend to attract to themselves other negative people? And we're all familiar with the "self- fulfilling prophecy." Now I'm not suggesting that a good attitude, or "The Power of Positive Thinking", by themselves will give us the wherewithal to do anything, but they can help us do everything better.

Other Universal Truths we see manifest everywhere include the one Aristotle introduced in 350B.C. Today it is referred to as the Law of Cause and Effect – everything happens for a reason. Neither winning nor losing – in the game of horseshoes, or in the game of life, is determined by luck or coincidence. Another was paraphrased several years ago by popular motivational speaker Zig Ziglar in his interpretation of The Law of Compensation. Zig put it simply this way, "You can have anything in life you want if you'll just help enough other people get what they want." The caveat, of course, being that selfish gain not be the motivation. Quid-pro-quid does not create winners in the game of life.

Irene: It's interesting to note Aristotle talked about Cause and Effect, yet 2500 years later we are still struggling with believing that everything happens for a reason. I'm seeing that in your own situation, if you didn't get fired, this book would not have been written. I know that we both can come up with my situations that prove the Law. Why is it so difficult for some people to believe in this particular Universal Law and attribute situations to luck, bad luck, or coincidence?

Roy: The best definition of "luck" I've ever seen is "Luck is where preparation and opportunity intersect." My wife Bonnie wins a lot of contests and sweepstakes. Friends say to her, "You are so lucky. I never win anything." Bonnie will frequently reply with, "Do you ever enter these contests?" and invariably the response will be, "No, 'cause I have such bad luck – I never win." Bonnie and her friends both have the opportunity to win, but Bonnie prepares to win by entering. And I sincerely believe that expectation plays a role as well. As Henry Ford said, "If you think you can, or if you think you can't, you're right."

And blaming negative situations on coincidence or bad luck is so much easier, not only because no work is required to prepare, but because it's so much easier to "rationalize" failure. Do you see "rational lies" in that word?

Irene: You encourage readers of Never Beat the Boss at Horseshoes... [ Buy it Now ] to take 100% responsibility for their own success. That's pretty humbling. How do you suggest we do that?

Roy: Irene, it is very simple. Simple, but not easy! In fact, it can be one of the most daunting challenges we face in playing the game of life. Look carefully at the word "responsibility" – it almost looks like "response-ability", or "respond-ability", doesn't it? Certainly we are not responsible for everything that happens in our lives; I am no more responsible for being fired after that horseshoe game than I am for the tides. But I am responsible for how I choose to view the event. In other words, we can't always control what happens in our lives, but we can control our response.

Irene: It's much easier to blame someone else if things aren't going how we had planned it and not be in touch with being responsible for our own feelings. And, sometimes the response gets us into more trouble. How do we change our attitude when one way of thinking has been ingrained for so long?

Roy: I define attitude as how we see life from within and how we choose to respond. In our seminars, I frequently ask participants to write the word attitude. No big deal, and they all accomplish the task without comment. I then ask them to put their pen in their other hand and write the word attitude - Wow, what a change in response! Some even say, "I can't do it." When I ask why it was so much harder the second time to write attitude, the universal response is "We've always done it this way", or, "We've never done it that way before."

Now think back to our earlier discussion of responsibility – that we can't always control what happens in our lives, but we can control our response. Couple this with the definition of attitude as a choice, and we have an answer to your question. Attitudes can change the moment we realize that we can control our response to every situation in our lives.

Irene: M. Scott Peck wrote "Sometimes the only solution to a problem is that there is no solution." Our society is very solution oriented and Peck's statement is hard to grasp. Mind you, he wrote it many years ago. How do you propose that we accept there just may not be a solution to the problem? Roy: The first chapter of Never Beat the Boss… [ Buy it Now ] is entitled "Put It in Perspective".

Is the "problem" truly a "problem?" Many people employ a concept known as re-labeling when evaluating a problem, and substitute another label. "Challenge", "situation", "concern" and "issue" are all words that can help to mitigate certain dilemmas. I don't mean to sound Pollyanna – certainly there are very real problems we all face that no amount of word-smithing is going to solve. Obviously a terminal illness is a challenge and a concern and an issue, but above all, it is a very real problem.

Several years ago insurance guru A.L. Williams wrote a book called, All You Can Do Is All You Can Do. There is genuine wisdom in that. There are times when we've exhausted everything we can do to find a solution, and yet the problem remains. This is when, with M. Scott Peck's observation in mind, we need to recall my earlier assertion that although we can't always control what happens, we can control our response.

Irene: You stress clear communication at all times. Sometimes we think we are communicating clearly but the other person just doesn't seem to be on the same page as we are. Do you have any clear cut suggestions of how we can be sure the other person hears what we are saying?

Roy: In 1979, at UCLA, Professor Albert Mehrabian published the results of his landmark study in communication. It is still the benchmark for understanding how people communicate, and it gives a clear insight into the answer to your question. He found that when we are talking to another person, only 7% of what they hear us say is our words. Fully 38% of what they hear is our tone of voice, and 55% of the message conveyed is our body language! In other words the old saying, "It's not what you say, but how you say it", is more than just an old saying. You need only to recall a childhood game of "Simon Says" to know this is true.

With that in mind, there are certain clear cut things we can do to facilitate true communication (The best definition of communication I've ever seen, by the way, is "to give and get understanding")…

• always make eye contact
• paraphrase what you think you heard the other person saying
• use verbal support – "yes", "I understand", Uh, huh", etc.
• use non-verbal support – the slight nodding of the head, slightly leaning forward, etc.
• ask questions
• use the "Echo" technique – repeating the last word or phrase they used
• maintain an open body position
• observe their body language as well – are they doing these things?

Irene: Thank you so much for a very interesting discussion. Is there anything else that you would like our readers to know about you, and your book?

Roy: Thank you, Irene. This has been great! I really would encourage your readers to visit www. RoyLantz.com for a couple of reasons. One is to experience the QUOTE-avation of the day (That's a quotation that provides inspiration and motivation – they must provide the perspiration!), and the other is that there are a number of articles there that may be of interest. I'd also like to plug my publisher's website – www.MagnoliaPinesPress.com to learn about Never Beat the Boss at Horseshoes… [ Buy it Now ]

See the original article here.