TGIT!

****

There’s a country song out right now with the lines…

“Yeah, I don’t want easy, I want crazy.”  It’s a love story of course (and careful what you wish for buddy)…

But this can translate to Drexel.  We are a growth company.  One that is willing to have HARD CONVERSATIONS to grow as a team, to be world class.  That’s hard.  We do want to simply supply happiness and change the world along the way.  We want everyone one of our builders to not imagine their business without Drexel as a part of it!

SO YEA, WE DON’T WANT EASY, WE WANT CRAZY!

**************************

THIS IS HOW YOU GO FROM DREAMERS TO HIGH ACHIEVERS!

At times, we are good at this, many other times, we aren’t.  And when we aren’t, things fall by the wayside, creating a black hole of communication, and frustration among leaders and teammates…. all can be avoided if we are very disciplined to define a next feeding time and degree of initiative, with noting vague or indefinite.

In other words, specific actions to be completed, with deadlines that are followed up on and held accountable to, will always ensure important tasks are completed and communicated outward.

This is a big deal….and it works, when adhered to.

***********

One thing I just added is TEXTING FROM MY FRIGGIN COMPUTER.  Cool man.  Cool.

Here’s how to do it.   Or ask one of your I.T. contacts to walk you thru it.  Game changer dude when you are grinding on your computer.  And you can send thought out texts instead of big finger ones…

https://support.google.com/messages/answer/7611075?hl=en

*****

“If our heads are full and our hearts are empty, we’ll just tip over.”  Live in Grace; Walk in Love

*****

Here’s a pile of screenshots off my phone:

Many from our Drexel Truss System Trip to Columbus Ohio.

New found respect for some of our leaders that went there.  WORLD CLASS GANG.

ROSS, RICH, BIG MIKE, CHRIS AND STEVE S.

WORLD CLASS.

TGIM!

So… 

With focus groups and general listening, the team is asking for explanations of why the downtown team of approx 20 people do exactly?

And when they visit our stores what is the reason and what are they doing?

And why don’t they come more?

I’ll try to explain.

Why the downtown team?

While each of you have a role and your head coach (store leader) has a big role, with 8 locations and 430 full time people there are duties, jobs and functions that simply need to be done.

As my dad says, an elephant drinks a lot of water.

For instance:

4 people Andy H, Eric C, Albert, and Paul R-> ORDER ALL STOCK ITEMS, OVER 2,913!

Amber does payroll.  450 unique pay plans every 2 weeks.

Erin “SkrupDogg” and Kari W and Brett process all of our bills.  Thousands a month.  Thousands.

Justin and Caitlin answer, train, develop, organize, solve 450 solutions and problems. They intimately know each role and advise.  With 450 someone always has questions.  Lots of them usually.

EB, buys and sells dozens of vehicles yearly.  Research analyzes and secures them.

Julie and Emily answer to our bank, accountants, attorneys and manage $200,000,000 million dollars in money.  Hard to do your own finances at home?  See how it would be at a company with 6 businesses in 1!

Pepper, Logan, and Griswald handle over 200 phone plans, 300 computers.

And on, and on.

BIG THING IS, I HAVE TONS OF IDEAS.  SO DOES THE TEAM.

1 IN 100 ACTUALLY ARE GOOD IDEAS, BUT WE EXPLORE AND RESEARCH THEM ALL.

It took Nate Sippel, Albert and Joel at LEAST 75 LOOKS AT PROPERTY for the new yard in (hopefully) New Berlin, but even we won’t know that until April!

#PAULS off site construction.  Where is that at?   Lots of misses.  Lots of opportunities.  Lots of maybes.  Lots of work with little traction.  That’s how this works.

It’s like the lightbulb.  1,000 failures!

Why can’t they be at my location more, I love their energy:

8 locations.  5 days in a week.   Mondays are the focus meetings where we all formally meet in each dept once a week.   So down to 4.  Let’s say one more office day.   1 customer facing day.

That’s down to 2 days a week to travel.  If equally shared that’s each location once a month.  Now say it’s a new location, so we go there more.  So your location is doing great, like a kid that is grown up and we have a kid in diapers.  So you guessed it, maybe 3 or even 4 months before we make it to you.

That’s just math.

So new diaper dandies expect us once a month. or more.

Grown ups, quarterly.

Like any dad, that doesn’t seem NEAR ENOUGH.  I love being at the stores, but math is math.  That’s the pulse and reality of this.

No worries, you guys got this!

So when we arrive, what are they doing?

I feel like I am being monitored sometimes, it’s uncomfortable!?

Yep, that is part of our job to observe, identify coaching moments and go from there.  If you are UNCOMFORTABLE, GET A MIRROR, THAT’S ON YOU!  (SORRY, HARSH.)  We are not a threat, we are your help if needed.

Our team might bring there work, they do have work to do!

They can help if you ask and will gladly do, but there role is not to relieve pressure when they work by you (although if asked it certainly is part of it.)

But… I want someone next to me MORE, HELPING ME!… 

THINK SMALL.  THINK THE PERSON NEXT TO YOU.

THINK A VETERAN ACCOUNT MANAGER OR ESTIMATOR THINK AN EX-CARPENTER.

NO TEAM IS VERY LARGE IF YOU DRILL IT DOWN, maybe 5-20 people. THAT’S SMALL!

OK, I hope that helps.

It does come down to each of us TRUSTING each other.  Every one has a role, everyone has duties.  Together we conquer the WORLD!

LASTLY,

WE, US, NOT THEM.  THERE IS NO THEM.  IT’S JUST US.  

450 PEOPLE SUPPLYING HAPPINESS.

ELIMINATE THE THEMS IN YOUR VOCABULARY!

If in doubt, ASK!

FACIL,

Joel

Discouragement.

It happens so fast.  The plan we had didn’t fall into place.

The idea we had didn’t go anywhere.

The communication we thought we had didn’t take place.

The person we are trying to change is never going to change.

The day was planned, but the day took over.

The fact is we know we are better than this,  but we failed.

Again.

DISCOURAGEMENT.

THE PROBLEM IS DISCOURAGEMENT LEADS TO

GIVING UP.

QUITTING.

And that’s never ok.

Fall 7, Rise 8.  It’s more important to rise, then to fall.

But it’s real.

We QUIT

On ourselves.

On them.

On everything.

When we quit, we get bitter, defensive, angry, and much, much worse.

The ONLY way to COMBAT DISCOURAGEMENT:

Is to encourage.  And you can ONLY do that through Encouraging THOSE ARE YOU.

That’s why we always have to be picking each other up, dusting them off, and telling them I BELIEVE IN YOU.

BE ENCOURAGING, SAY THINGS LIKE  “YOU ARE ALMOST THERE.  YOU CAN DO THIS.”

Simply believe what you are doing is worth it. BELIEVE.

Encourage.

— Facil,

Joel