In her newest column for the Inc. Leadership Forum, BL Companies CEO Carolyn Stanworth explains how her experience as part of a project team early in her career shaped the leader she would become. In the essay, “How We Do the Work is Just as Important as the Results,” Carolyn recalls hitting the deadline but being completely exhausted. Team morale was low, everyone was exhausted and no one felt valued. In the article, Carolyn explains how the BL mindset turns good projects into lasting partnerships:
At BL, our employee-owners have a stake in the outcome of every project. Transparency and responsiveness are hallmarks of our work because our teams aren’t trying to just “get through” a job. They’re working to do it right.
Consider a major pipeline project we worked on some years ago. The permitting process required a massive number of maps and legal documents, all of which needed to be folded, labeled, and assembled into binders under an extremely tight deadline. Our graphics team was talented but small, and the volume was overwhelming.
So, we all pitched in. For days, our cafeteria looked like a production floor. Project managers, administrative staff, technical staff, even me—we were all folding maps, checking labels, and organizing binders. People adjusted their schedules, came in early, stayed late, and did whatever was needed.
When the client’s attorneys received the submission, they told us they had never seen such a clean, error-free package. The deadline was important, obviously, but the how was essential. The client was impressed and our entire team felt more connected than before.
Read the full article here.