Whom Do You Want on Your Team?

Whom Do You Want on Your Team?

December 6, 2021

Welcome to week #4 of The AD Way!

Do the little things as well as the big things, that blow people away. Create loyalty and value by going the extra mile and doing the unexpected. Create extraordinary experiences they’ll tell others about. Make someone’s day.

Did you ever notice that some fundamentals come more naturally to you than other fundamentals? How some weeks the fundamental feels as natural as breathing air; and other weeks it feels like you’re trying to talk in a foreign language?

Same here. You see, each of us are gifted in some areas and less gifted in others. None of us have the exact same blend of personality, tendencies, strengths, and weaknesses. We are who we are. And to some extent, we are who we’ve always been.

If we’re smart, we’ll work on our areas of weakness. But not obsess about them. Because unless they are truly problematic, it's better is to focus on leveraging strengths.

The same is true of companies. We do a lot of things well at AD. One of our greatest strengths is customer satisfaction.

We have a passion for performance and responsiveness (two major keys to customer satisfaction). We want to make every member and supplier happy in every interaction! For one, these are people and companies we truly respect and admire. What’s more, they do business with us out of choice, not obligation. We don’t take them for granted.

The AD way of preserving these valued relationships (and gaining new ones) is by providing exceptional results and service.

Getting back to people promptly and solving their problems quickly is important. So are meeting deadlines, commitments, incentives, and goals. But these are not enough. They’re not enough because in order to be successful for any extended period of time, you need to exceed people’s expectations!

To put it plainly, if we are only doing what people already expect of us (at our jobs or in aggregate as a company) we run a very real risk of being replaced by someone or something better. That may seem unfair, and maybe it is, but it’s how the world works. It happens all the time. So, what we need instead, is for AD (and each of at AD) to exceed expectations.

There’s no magic formula for achieving this. Each of us being good at our job is the starting point. On top of that, it takes understanding that exceeding expectations is what we are going for here; and then, it takes going all out to make that happen.

Opportunities to exceed expectations are around all of us. Opportunities to surprise, delight, and impress. Big stuff and little stuff. But who’s going to grab one and do it? Only people who care.

When I talk about the people who work at AD, I tell people how smart and talented our people are. But I always add that our biggest strength is that we actually care about each other and the companies and people we serve.

Smart, talented people who exceed expectations because they care. That’s who I want on my team. That’s a team that wins.

What about you?