CEO Corner
2009.01
Cynthia J. Pasky
The New Year brings with it challenges few of us have seen in our lifetime as this country faces its most uncertain economic conditions since the early 1930s.
In spite of what is happening nationally and locally in our economy, I remain a positive person as I look forward to 2009. I firmly believe that, both as a company and as a community, we can have a great deal of influence over the direction 2009 takes. I believe that requires that we approach the year with the right attitude, with a focus on the steps we can take to produce positive results and a vocabulary made up of words that will point us in the right direction.
Our vocabulary for 2009 must emphasize words that will produce success, words like "action," "plan," "ownership," "accountability" and "compromise."
We must emphasize action in 2009. That means not just “leaving a message” for a prospective customer. It means staying on the phone until you actually make contact with them.
We must have a plan. That means developing a strategy for success and then following through on that strategy, adjusting it along the way as is necessary.
We must take ownership of that plan and follow it through to a positive result.
We must be accountable for our actions and not look for someone else to blame if things go awry.
And we must be willing to accept the suggestions and feedback of others and be willing to compromise to reach a common goal. We must understand that compromise that moves toward a common goal, that incorporates the best from everyone, is a positive that helps produce success.
Here in southeast Michigan, we must focus on the assets we possess - the tech industry, the health care industry, finance, the incredible talent pool of highly skilled engineers, the unmatched beauty of our state - and work with those assets. It's not a matter of wishing and hoping. Hope is not a strategy. But optimism that plays itself out and is manifested through those words is a strategy.
We also must have an engaged community leadership that finds the time not only to run their own companies with their own challenges, but also makes the time to provide the leadership this community needs to move forward. We are fortunate to have people like Tony Early, Dan Loepp, Sandy Pierce and Roger Penske filling leadership roles in our community and making the time in very busy schedules to serve the broader community while they still move their own individual companies forward.
They are the kind of leader who recognizes that in any cooperative effort there has to be some give and take, with the interests of all taken into account and reflected in the final outcome.
In two weeks, Strategic Staffing Solutions will bring key staff from our 25 branches around the country and the world to Detroit for workshops to help get the year off to a great start and keep us all on the same page.
It's an annual tradition that this year will bring more than 200 executives, our largest group ever, to town to take stock of where we are and to plan for 2009.
I'm going to tell our people that I want their vocabulary in 2009 to focus on these words: "action," "plan," "ownership," "accountability" and "compromise." I'm going to tell them that focusing on these words of success will mean that they as individuals and Strategic Staffing Solutions as a company will have a very successful 2009.
A focus on these words will produce a very successful 2009 for this city and this region as well.
