April 2022
As I reflect on the past couple of years and look ahead to the future, I am seeing similarities to the approach a college basketball team took in the recent NCAA playoffs and their astonishing results.
In true March Madness fashion, #15 St Pete’s from New Jersey knocked off a #2 basketball powerhouse in the first round of the playoffs and went on to become the Cinderella team of the 2022 tournament as they piled up win after win after win.
St Pete’s approach took them deep into the tournament, sending out a message of unity, perseverance, and fortitude. When the St Pete’s coach was interviewed throughout the tournament, he said that his entire team had within them a spirit of competition that was the driving force behind them playing every game with a sense of urgency from start to finish. He went on to applaud each teammate for unselfishly creating opportunities for one another and working in unison to cause defensive mayhem that shut down opponents.
For the past two years, we have spent a significant portion of time learning how to cope with the mayhem of the pandemic, and more than ever our business was less about competition and more about keeping people safe, healthy, and employed. These are all important values that we never want to lose sight of however, what’s more, is that out of the crisis came the rallying cry of “together we will beat this,” also something we never want to lose sight of. This in truth should now be the standard upon which we leverage to compete for more work, build quality jobs, and meet timelines that return the profits with which we use to grow and improve our business.
As the conversation swings away from the pandemic and now speaks of supply chain disruptions, extended lead times, and inflation we must leverage the success of the past to advance through the challenges of the present. In other words, this time it’s not just the unity that we created through the pandemic that will guide us, rather we are going to need to double down on that unselfish caring for one another that came out of the pandemic to advance a mindset of creating opportunities to set us above the competition so that we can compete for more work, build the highest quality of jobs, and meet timelines. This unselfish unity and competitive mindset will be what returns the profits which we will use to grow and improve the business for each and every one of us.
Like out of the madness of NCAA victories in March, Casey Fogli’s unity, perseverance, and fortitude will make us well-positioned to advance through these latest challenges so that we can unselfishly work as a team to create the competitive spirit that will set us ahead of the competition.