Thank You for Thank Yous
Our Ops Team (Mark, Nikki, Johnny, Ryan, Sarah, Lori, Caroline, Kelie, and Danny) hosted an Ops Summit recently with all of the leaders from our operating companies (it was a lot of Ops). We played cornhole (or Bags as they call it in Duluth…shoutout Joe and Matt), ate, shared best practices, ate some more, did some personality testing (I think…I wasn’t there for that…I’m afraid of what I might learn), ate additionally, and then headed home. The very thoughtful Ops team (again, Mark’s team is “hoppin’”) even sent flowers to significant others for letting us borrow the others’ others for a few days.
We thought good times were had by all.
We didn’t know for sure though until Ryan got a thank you. And not just any thank you, but a thank you from Dan.
If you don’t know Dan, well, I’m not surprised. He’s not famous, but he runs a pretty great commercial waterproofing subcontractor down in Texas. Dan’s also opinionated and doesn’t shy away from letting you know if he thinks you wasted his time or money. But here’s what he said!
Thank you for hosting the Operator’s Summit in Columbia, MO, last week. It was great to be in an environment of top notch business leaders. It is so beneficial to bounce ideas and actions off other folks that have been successful outside of my organization. Being so immersed in the propagation of our own business sometimes makes me “snow blind” to other forces in the world. Being surrounded by other business leaders that don’t work for me is refreshing and humbling. There are some very talented and dedicated people in that group. I hope my strong, if not caustic, personality was not too overwhelming. Maybe next time I’ll be more of a wallflower…
Thanks to whoever sent the flowers to my wife. That was such a nice touch. She thoroughly appreciated it (and needed it). By virtue of our company being associated with Permanent Equity, I got some credit for it. Go figure. Feel free to let me know if there is anything I can do for you.
A couple of points (leaving aside the fact that Dan is a double spacer)…
(1) We should all be routinely getting outside views. They are scary, but helpful, and whether you’re on the right or wrong track, ultimately invigorating.
(2) Small gestures go a long way. If you think you should do something, do it. Thoughtfulness is a valuable currency.
(3) Gratitude is a superpower. We literally didn’t know if we should call the event a success or not and Dan’s email means it is now an annual doing.
(4) People you love and who love you care about who you work with. Business can seem cold and unfeeling sometimes, but it doesn’t have to be. And even though it’s risky, it’s exponentially empowering when your reputation is tied up with someone else’s and they do a good job too.
See you next year in Columbia, MO?
– By Tim Hanson