By Eric Adams, Adams + Beasley Associates, PRO NE President.

Good afternoon PRO NE,

As I sit here and compose this note, the afternoon sun is quickly retreating from the sky to the  earth, faster and earlier than feels comfortable.  So, once again we find ourselves approaching a busy time of year; events, family gatherings, holidays, and hopefully time to reflect.  It is this last item that I would like to focus on.  I recently attended a peer group meeting in Arizona with 8 other amazing building and remodeling companies from around the country, and during our focus time, a one hour spotlight on our business, I found myself frantically trying to articulate all of our many “burning issues”.  

Much of the time these issues masquerade as fires threatening to burn down the structure of our company, endanger the safety of our team, and destroy the very livelihoods of the people that have worked so hard to build the businesses that we have committed to day after day, year after year.  As I finished outlining what I thought were our “burning issues”, feeling breathless and anxious, overwhelmed at the sheer number of improvements I felt must be made to “summit the mountain”, I shut my mouth and looked around the room at 13 other business owners staring at me in disbelief.  The look in their eyes said it all. “Eric, when was the last time you simply turned around and took stock of the progress you have already made?”.  

It hit me like a truck. In my fervor to improve myself and my business, I had lost sight of one of the most important things… perspective.  At my company we constantly talk about a culture of continuous improvement and I know each of us works tirelessly to live that value.  But, perhaps we need to balance that striving with a value of continuous perspective.  

There is no doubt that each of us can and should always be thinking about ways to improve ourselves, but in this season of change, I am committing to improve my striving for perspective.  I plan to celebrate the collective accomplishments of the team and take to heart the daily opportunities of gratitude for progress already achieved.  So, I invite you to do the same.  

We are living in a tumultuous world, full of uncertainty and suffering, and I know for many of us, the constant requirement to sell the next project or close the next deal can be all-consuming, drowning out the quiet satisfaction of goals met.  So, I challenge all of us to make time each day to simply reflect on the good and the growth that each day brings, if you know where to look for it.   It may be a kind smile from a stranger, a testimonial from a client, a funny story during a coffee break, a vendor confirming an order, or a timeline kept on-track, but they are all around us… moments of progress out in the open, just waiting to be seen.  

I look forward to seeing everyone soon and wish you all an autumn full of perspective!

Eric