Over the years, I have worked with many different remodeling company owners and employees. Some clients have done remarkable things as a result of our coaching work. Dave Roberts of Roberts Architecture and Construction in Evanston, Ill., is one of those people.
As part of our work together, I encouraged Dave to take advantage of his passions and all the connections he had made over the years. Here is a recent email from Dave (lightly edited by me) about a party his company just had that celebrated the 120th anniversary of the building Dave’s company is located in:
Always looking for a reason to have a party and celebrate.
We invited a crowd of wonderful clients, associates, friends, city officials, and Northwestern University friends. We also blindly invited people that own the 30-some houses designed by Myron Hunt on the Northshore. We made so many new connections. We’re already working with two of them.
Dave is an architect who loves the profession. He is very knowledgeable about the subject. Reaching out to those homeowners was a win-win way to let those folks know about his company.
Having a party can be a great team activity, too. Lots of ideas about celebrating and we’re working together on something other than the usual. It brings opportunities for team members to contribute and lead in ways they otherwise might not have a chance or willingness to do.
Dave has become exceptionally good at getting the buy-in of his employees and delegating more and more to them. He has done the necessary remodeling work on himself to make these changes, to his credit.
I’m having more fun at work than ever. So much of that is the outcome of paying attention to building good team trust, but you knew that!
Dave hit the nail on the head. In order to have fun at work and have a successful business, a foundation of trust must be built. Without that trust, the efforts of the owner to create a more cohesive team go nowhere.
Last winter, we had the Northwestern grad school of communication approach us and they did a six team competition to develop marketing strategies for us. You can imagine the benefits for us. I had them interview wonderful clients, associates, and our entire team as part of the process. Our building’s birthday party was one outcome of their insights on reaching the community.
I had suggested to Dave several years ago to use business school grad students to get an outside perspective on his business. Inviting your local grad school of business to use your needs as a company to advance their education is something we did several times. It gives the students needed experience in a safe way and you as the business owner great insights, at no cost.
Thank you again for all you’ve done to help.
Dave, my pleasure. What you have done and continue to do as a result of our work together is inspiring. I know you will remember to party on!