A skilled worker is a great person to have on your team. They have great knowledge, they know the answers, they come up with good ideas and can implement new company initiatives. These skilled workers have generally paid their dues, have a slight piece of entitlement (which they have earned) and a lot of the times want to be understood due to experience. They have moved up the levels of hierarchy and are used to this type of business structure.
Being an owner is not a learned skill, nor am I meaning a physical owner. I’m talking about the owners of their role, you know the ones with the passion for winning like they have their entire life savings, family, friends and themselves on the line, even though they don’t. They are the ones who refuse to say can’t, the ones who seek to understand are not afraid to fail. They focus on the important items because they don’t have time for the drama but don’t have excuses….ever. Because as an owner there is never an excuse. They put their team’s best interest at heart and literally take failures personally because they know they can be better and have a deep burning passion to win. They work longer when the job needs to be done and they celebrate when its time to celebrate but clearly understand the difference. Some people question an owner for working too hard or focusing too much on their job and not their life. To an owner, it’s not a job, it’s meaning, and meaning is life, in fact, it is the most rewarding life. An owner understands that knowledge motivates, and motivation improves, and improvement is meaning, and meaning IS, Quality of Life.
Tonight, I left the office at 6:45 pm and there were still 6 people there working. Now, working late is absolutely not a driving factor for who has passion or how effective these people are. But, when I asked them why they were here this late the answer was….”Now is our time and I don’t want to waste it”, or “ I’m not going to be the one to slow things down”, or “We can’t get to 300 homes if this doesn’t get fixed”. The 6:45 part didn’t amaze me, these people seeing a vision that is larger than themselves did. A skilled worker doesn’t see this, only an owner does.
Another experience today was a message I received from a team member about one of our extremely passionate field managers who very rarely gets recognized for their efforts. The Field Manager role is debatably one of the most stressful jobs within our structure that some don’t realize. They juggle a huge amount of information that needs to be correct but maybe isn’t, vendors that need to be on time and of course weather, which we all know is simple, right? The below message was from a buyer of ours today and it said the following:
“We are both excited about the house. I am so impressed with Jeremy! David is (at best) a difficult person to please but he has found very, very little to complain about. Jeremy has got to be very close to sainthood by now and if not, he will be by the time the house is done. His attention to detail and creative ideas continue to amaze me. We have people who are planning to build sometime within the next four to five years just behind us a few lots. You can be assured they will not receive a stronger endorsement for a builder than the one I will give for Elliott Homes”
Like the office people I saw tonight, this comes from not just being a skilled worker, it comes from being an owner. Great job, Jeremy.
I wanted to share this because you are making MASSIVE strides right now as a team, as an organization and as a system. The Elliott Homes system. It is not easy to be better every day….EVER! It is not easy to do something you have never done…EVER! And it is not easy to grow….EVER! But, when you achieve something above yourself, it is the greatest meaning you will ever encounter. The passion that is so clearly evident within our walls and out in our communities is an entirely new level of meaning. You are very close to achieving something that is so far above the industry norm it will blow your mind. Some, still might not see it, but that’s OK….You will.
Keep it up team, you are very inspiring and absolutely amazing.
Own it!