I'm a Will Smith fan—have been since his days as a rapperwhen I was in college. I like his music as much as his movies. In 2005, he released an album with a single called, “Pump Ya Brakes.” It was a manual on how to behave when trying to get a date. As if the title doesn't clue you in, he sums up his advice early in the song: “Be a gentleman. Try to be gentle, man.”

Our three boys are 15, 12 and 9, so they hear, “pump ya brakes,” multiple times a day, though it's usually about running in the house.

But I also teach salespeople the same principle when it comes to cold calling. I know, I know. You hate that term, but here's the deal: You're walking into a door where you don't know them and they don't know you. I don't care how you dress it up by calling it “canvassing” or “prospecting,” that's a cold call. And it's not fun.