My dear friends…
My plate is full,
My mind is active,
And, I can’t sleep.
That’s unusual.
In the past week, I have had 4 people, whom I did not direct to this blog or the concept of harmony, find this HARMONY blog and send me notes.
One wrote me a long and heartfelt email about how they connected with so many of the thoughts and stories. They titled their email to me 'beautiful harmony'. I love that there are people like you, who aren't afraid to embrace concepts like "harmony" with the awe and power and intrigue that it deserves.
I can’t tell you how much that means to me.
If you just started reading this blog recently, I encourage you to go back to some of the original posts that describe the concept of harmony. I will be re-publishing a few of my favorites. Maybe I will create my own version of my TBTs ;-)
Today, on a conference call, my partner called me out for being the “touchy feely” one. I don’t have the same immediate rejection to that term that I once had, and I realize that it is certainly, partly true.
But, only partly…
It is true, I value culture in a company tremendously. I believe it is real and that it is a competitive advantage. I also feel like it is the RIGHT way to run a company – in that it can create an inspired, energized and engaged group of people. (I don’t understand why anyone would choose the alternative, given the choice.)
But, even above culture, I value great strategy. And, great strategy is not about touchy feely… It’s ultimately about hard core numbers. It’s ultimately about winning and growing business, expanding opportunities, better serving clients and creating wealth.
(For those of you who haven’t read “Touchy Feely My A$$”… that was one of my favorite posts early on.)
Today - let me tell you a story that I have shared in parts... A story that is very much the REAL impact and result of harmony.
Let me tell you about this company we bought a few years back, at the end of 2012. I have told you a little bit about it before.
The net of it:
The gentleman we bought it, with good or bad intentions, misled us as to the state of the company, the profitability of the company, and the “satisfaction” of the employees and the clients.
The employees hated working for the company and where sabotaging the company.
The clients wanted to fire us.
Our safety rating and performance rating was horrible.
And, there was one contract, one very large contract that made up the lion share of the company and essentially all of the profit.
The responsibility of having made this decision weighed on me. It weighed heavily on me.
I started going to the large plant (the big contract) weekly. I would leave at 2 am from my house so that I could be there at 7 am.
In the first few days, I managed to build quick trust with several of the key players. The client remained very stand-offish.
Literally within the first few days of working with the crew – a few people said to me, “I will follow you wherever it is you want to take us.”
Some of these employees had been working for the company for decades in tension and discord, and in a matter of DAYS they had developed trust.
It is powerful to shift from a “I wish the employees worked harder” mentality. A mentality that assumed that everyone was always trying to take advantage of the company, and there was no gratitude for any of the efforts being made by the team, to an approach of “I know people have been keeping this contract running despite very little help from management.”
The MOMENT that you shift from distrust to trust, from discord to accord, from Theory X to Theory Y, from “why don’t you” to “thank you”… and people know that you mean it… The world changes!
It was essential that we hired a fantastic plant manager to lead the way.
It was essential that we worked hard to do what we said we were going to do for the employees and the client.
We improved safety.
We negotiated with the Union.
We addressed employees that needed to be addressed.
And, moment by moment, harmony created more harmony, and the client was impressed.
The big contract was rebid, as it was supposed to be years ago…
A 10 year, $55 Million dollar contract that represented the lions share of this new company.
I remember driving home from various visits, and if I allowed myself to go to the “I wish we hadn’t bought this company”… I felt the stress in the disharmony physically.
I could switch my stress off in a moment, by shifting my mind into a “we have bought this company, and we are in the strongest position to be able to re-win this contract.” “What am I doing in this moment, what am I doing TODAY to rewin this contract? What else could I be doing?”
We assembled a fantastic team to work on the proposal.
I didn’t assume we had done enough by turning the results around.
We wanted to hand in the very best proposal.
We spent time embracing the “absolute truth”. What could our competition propose? How could they create advantages? How can we integrate those things into our proposal?
We had a tremendous amount of help for a couple of reasons:
1. We sought it out…
2. We kept an open mind and were creative and aggressive about searching for people that could help.
3. We had people that stepped up to help, because they “felt” our integrity and our well intentioned interest in serving this client well.
There were 20 people at the prebid (meaning that there were likely at least 10 companies that bid on this contract).
A month and a half ago, we WON!
It was a special day. It was possibly the most meaningful “win” in my career, up until that time. (I have actually had a bigger win since then).
And, then the competition protested our win, as can happen with government work.
Well, two weeks ago, the protest was thrown out – and the new contract went into affect.
I could write a book on this 18 month turn around… There were so many lessons, so many details, so many people, so many chances for things to go wrong. The employees and the clients wanted us out 18 months ago, and the company essentially made no money. Today, the employees feel valued, the clients are thrilled and the company is turning a profit.
There are many to thank.,. but one overall concept... HARMONY.
I KNOW that it was the concept of harmony applied over and over again in every moment that brought this contract win home and turned the business around.
Harmony is not about “happy”, “easy”, “light” management decisions. Harmony is about being willing to embrace the real truth every step of the way. We fired the first program manager that we hired after 20 days on the job. We dealt with policy violations. We created accountability. We were transparent with our issues. We took the critical feedback. We stood there and held ourselves responsible when we failed to deliver on a commitment. And, slowly and then more quickly, we started delivering on what we had promised to deliver… a safe and reliable operation committed to on-going improvement.
Some see me as the “touchy feely” one. So be it. I believe emotion can be used to our advantage. I believe emotion is a gift. Not uncontrollable emotion, but channeled and deliberate emotion.
I want to write about harmony in very specific ways.
I want to help others understand how to apply it.
I have a talk tomorrow at 8 am, where one of our Directors has invited me to talk about the concept of harmony to his team. Love that!
I will be talking to our executive teams next week about harmony and the invisible hand that it plays in our culture and harmony.
As long as I am the one in charge, I will hold my flag of harmony high. I know some will snicker, some will taunt, and many will be in disbelief. Let them.
My numbers and results and those of my company speak for themselves.
I know better.
Harmony is REAL.
And, it remains the single most powerful and tangible concept that I have ever known.
More to come.
Thanks for being a part of my journey.
(NOTE: If you want specific information about how HARMONY applies to acquisitions and integrations - reaach out to me by email nmbenavides@emgcorp.com and I can provide you more detailed information.)
Yours in harmony,
Nestor