June 2023
I read the book The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni. When I first picked up the book, I was skeptical, thinking this was another one of those management books that spewed tons of research and statistics and overused words such as “empowerment” and “synergy.” I expected chapters about the importance of team-building events where we would cross rivers on rope bridges and practice office yoga daily. As I got further into the book, I realized that this book’s concepts were far more centered and practical. He pointed out four steps to create a healthy organization. I was intrigued by the idea of putting his philosophies into practice.
We Deliver Innovative Solutions That Navigate our Clients Towards Success – Why does HLBS exist?
We Provide Peace of Mind Through Expert Services – What does HLBS do?
HLBS Strategic Anchors – How will HLBS Succeed?
- Integrate our services.
- Understand and fulfill customer needs.
- Cultivate an Exceptional People Environment
Core Values – How does HLBS Behave?
- Integrity
- Quality
- People
- Safety
- Opportunity
- Community
- Stability
His first step in building a healthy culture was to build a cohesive Executive Team. When I took over as President in 2022, I was looking for those that showed a knack for innovative new ideas, getting things done, were talented collaborators, and showed an ability to lead. I thought long and hard about selecting the team, and after months of consideration, I am happy to announce the Executive Team for Harbor Linx Business Support.
- Kim Carone – Vice President of Risk Management
- Zeydi Gutierrez – Vice President of Human Resources
- Jake Arevalo – Vice President of Finance
- Mike Ridino – Vice President of Information and Technology
The author goes into 5 traits that make teams either functional or dysfunctional. I won’t go into the details here, but we were consulted and trained to ensure these traits are a strength to our team and not a divisive force.
The second step was to create clarity. This means answering questions such as: Why do we exist, what do we do, how will we succeed, how do we behave? The newly assembled team spent two days at 8 Bar Ranch in April. Anyone who thinks this was a corporate “retreat” of spa time and feel-good team exercises is mistaken. We met away from the office to set the foundation as an executive team and discuss the future of HLBS without interruption.
These were two intense, mentally draining days as we came up with a vision for Harbor Linx Business Support. The first day was a 12-hour grind, but many great ideas about HLBS’ existence, values and purpose were presented and debated. After hours of dialogue, many key concepts and strategic anchors were formed. The second day was training on how we can run effective meetings.
The third and fourth steps are to 3) Overcommunicate Clarity 4) Reinforce Clarity. We did an HLBS All Hands meeting in May to roll out our ideas and answers to the critical questions. We rolled out a new organization chart to align with the new Executive Team and give clarity to team members about their alignment within the organization. Changing culture and environment doesn’t happen overnight. We are only one month into the process, but I see movement aligning to the new vision and anchors.
HLBS is a service organization that is here to support our affiliate companies to be successful. Employees of McGuire and Hester, Casey Fogli, and CF&T may see little change in some of HLBS’ services, you will still get your paycheck every Friday, computers will still need to be fixed, Safety will still be visiting the job sites. What I hope to improve with this new alignment is that the way these services are provided is more innovative, efficient, and consistent. Internally, HLBS will have better communications between departments, so tasks are not doubled up and departments work together more. The training we received on running meetings has significantly improved our communications. Original solutions to problems will be proposed, vetted, and implemented if found practical.
Finally, an employee with a welcoming work environment, positive employee experience, and clear expectations will always provide better customer service than an unhappy, disgruntled employee. I look forward to cultivating these changes within HLBS. Congratulations to the new Executive Team. There is a lot of work to do ahead of us!