TZL 1306

BUSINESS NEWS ACTON CONSTRUCTION, INC. LAUNCHES ACTON ADU, A NEW COMPANY THAT SPECIALIZES IN ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS Acton Construction, a residential building company operating in the Silicon Valley for 30 years, has launched Acton ADU , a company specializing in designing and building customized accessory dwelling units (while also navigating changing California regulations), with a focus on long-term family planning. Founder, Stan Acton, a long-time California housing advocate, created Acton ADU to both meet the demand for knowledgeable and specialized accessory dwelling units builders, and to make a positive impact on the California housing shortage by offering a

holistic approach to long-term housing plans for homeowners. Acton shared, “The shortage of housing is a major issue in California. One that can’t be solved without expanding capacity within existing city boundaries.” Acton continued, “With multigenerational living on the rise, we help homeowners create long- term plans for their families who want to retire, need to accommodate aging parents, help young adults just starting out on their own, and as a future investment.” Acton ADU is ultimately a full-service company that specializes in accessory dwelling units architecture and interior design,

navigating code regulations in 19 city or county jurisdictions, as well as the complete construction of fully liveable accessory homes. Acton ADU is a Northern California company founded by family housing advocate, Stan Acton. The company specializes in designing, navigating, and building personalized accessory dwelling units for homeowners that want to benefit from a long-term family housing and investment plan. Acton ADU is based out of Campbell, California and serves 20 cities and jurisdictions in the San Francisco Bay Area’s Silicon Valley for more than 30 years.

ANDREW TARVIN, from page 11

4)Give credit where credit is due. The cardinal sin of stand-up comedy (just after murder) is stealing material. Taking some- one else’s jokes and pretending they are your own is like buy- ing a Coke, putting your own label on it, and selling it as Joe’s Soda. After all, jokes are the primary product that comedians “sell.” In management, to take credit for what other people have done is not only dishonest, it’s limiting for both you and your team. Your team doesn’t get the proper recognition they deserve, and you don’t showcase your ability to inspire your team to great results. Taking credit and stealing material may help you get ahead in the short-term, but in today’s world, the frauds and the thieves tend to get found out and left behind. 5)Respect peoples’ time. The second biggest sin in comedy is going over your allotted time (called “blowing the light”). Nearly every comedian imagines they could entertain the crowd for hours upon hours, but (thankfully) shows typically limit the amount of time each comic has, often based on their skill-level or connection to the show. To go over the amount of time given is to tell the show producer and all of the other comedians, “I think I’m more important than you,” and, “I don’t respect you.” When you, as a leader, hold people longer than the scheduled time, or consistently show up late to meetings, you’re saying the same thing: “I think I’m more important than you,” and, “I don’t respect you.” Respect people’s time and they’ll respect yours (and you) for it. If you need help keeping meetings on track, you can always do what comedians do: give people a notification when their time is almost up and then cut the mic if they go on for too long. Becoming a stand-up leader isn’t easy, but following some of these principles from stand-up comedians can certainly help. Plus, this is the perfect excuse to finally give stand- up comedy a try or at least watch some of your favorite comedians online. You won’t just be having a laugh, you’ll be on your way to becoming a better leader as well. ANDREW TARVIN is the world’s first humor engineer, teaching people how to get better results while having more fun. He is the author of Humor That Works: The Missing Skill for Success and Happiness at Work and CEO of Humor That Works, a consultancy for human effectiveness. For more information, please visit humorthatworks.com and connect with him on Twitter, @drewtarvin.

have already been nodding along (not nodding off), you can transition into the meat of the meeting. 2)Deliver with confidence. Comedy is a mixture of both con- tent and delivery. Yes, the material itself has to be good, but so does the delivery. In fact, delivery can often make up for weaker material – just look at Dane Cook’s early career. The jokes weren’t mind-blowingly funny, but his delivery of it was. The same is true for leading others. If you’re not confident in what you’re doing, it will be much harder for people to fol- low you. As Adlai Stevenson said, “It’s hard to lead a cavalry charge if you think you look funny on a horse.” The key to improving your confidence as a leader is the same as developing it as a comedian – through practice and repeti- tion. The more often you do something, the easier it tends to become and the more comfortable you get. “Becoming a stand-up leader isn’t easy, but following some of these principles from stand-up comedians can certainly help. Plus, this is the perfect excuse to finally give stand-up comedy a try or at least watch some of your favorite comedians online.” 3)Seek feedback. Comedy, in a way, is simple. How do you know something is funny? It makes people laugh. The only way for a comedian to know if people will laugh at the joke is to try it out and see. The immediate feedback they receive on stage is invaluable as a performer. Similarly, feedback to a leader is crucial. Stopping to ask for ways to better connect with each of your direct reports, im- prove a presentation, or what went well in a particular meet- ing can guide you in finding what works and what doesn’t. Then you can start working on the right things – working smarter and not harder. One key thing to note is that feedback doesn’t just have to come from other people. Comedians record their performanc- es so they can go back to evaluate a performance. Checking in with yourself periodically, or tracking your daily progress, can help you find what is and isn’t working for you.

THE ZWEIG LETTER July 29, 2019, ISSUE 1306

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