Here is my takeaway from yesterday’s outstanding meeting with George Obst and Bob Ditta.

This completes another wonderful year of our Leaders Institute. Congratulations and, more importantly, thanks for all you’ve done the past four years. I can’t wait for “year 5″!

Dwight Johnson

It was great to see how impactful a company could be by utilizing the fundamentals of successful businesses. The owners clearly placed a big priority on the employees. They worked extremely hard at recruiting the “right” employees…utilizing psychological testing at the management level. Once hired, they then identified their “middle stars” and their “super stars”. They were very careful with their “super stars” insuring they didn’t micro-manage them, that they delegated many things to them, and they held their co-workers accountable to do their job, so that the super stars didn’t have to pick up the slack all the time. Employee recognition was a top priority (i.e. “celebrate successes”) and conducted often during the year as was employee education.

This company focused on a clear vision and placed a priority on goal setting. Although the four owners had very different personalities they all shared the same values. If the owners found themselves “stuck” they quickly brought in consultants.

This company was a huge success for a variety of reasons but I believe there was one parameter above everything else. The owners genuinely “cared” for the employees and the employees responded accordingly.