No question I was excited,on top of my game, and then the spotlight shifted. True story.
Coming off an incredible 2024, returning from the holidays, it would be Strong Automotive’s first employee gathering of the new year, the unveiling of our company’s 2025 theme “One Team”. After studying what often occurs within many fast-growing, successful companies – they splinter, and build “silos”, creating division between divisions that corrode a company’s cooperative spirit. My One Team message would plot the course for how we could maintain our core DNA.
I had props, including a silver-dollar-sized coin showing the new One Team logo and three key elements on one side, and on the other, the gravity center point of our company: “Deliver world-class products and services to automotive dealers.” The outcome of accomplishing our mission is what creates a great home for our family here at Strong, but only if we do it better than anyone else in the industry.
Three elements drive our daily efforts: One Goal. One Impression. One Time. Our One Goal is very clear – anticipate and satisfy the needs of each client to achieve the most positive results. The thought behind One Impression is the daily challenge of making a good first impression- no second chances, especially considering the incredible effort needed to repair a bad impression. One Time is a standard of excellence in completing work at the highest performance level the first time. When asking our team what takes the most time, and what loses the most clients, it was a consensus – mistakes!
And this brings us to the star of the show. The Perfect 10 is an employee benchmark recognizing a decade of service to the company. Our honoree for this occasion was Sheryl Jones, a graphic artist who over her time with the company has handled over 200,000 jobs. Along with being presented a license plate whose numbers read 1 05 15 for her start date, there was a company gift, and an opportunity to speak to her peers – a moment Sheryl was not comfortable with, but absolutely crushed.
Her opening comment: “I woke up this morning before the alarm went off, which I hate, but then I was thankful because I realized I hadn’t given much thought to this generous acknowledgment today. So, I got up and started thinking about it, and I guess the theme is thankful, it comes down to three main things.” She then reached into her pocket and pulled out her notes, and it was an incredible moment to hear Sheryl’s take on Strong. She thanked our leadership team for creating a dynamic place to work, then added, “It might sound boring, but it’s a stable place, and from someone who’s been laid off, that’s very important and I appreciate that.”
Sheryl was just getting warmed up, “It may sound cliche, but everyone here is really special. For myself, I’ve realized that I’m not looking for the easiest workday out there, and I would bet most all of us here are not looking for that. We are looking for a bit of a challenge and Strong provides that. I’m thankful for the challenge and thankful to everyone here who thrives on challenge.”
And the perfect close to Sheryl’s Perfect 10 speech: “I can’t imagine how different and unbearably difficult my day would be without my team’s willingness to work together and help each other out.” There it is, the heart of One Team: we win together, we lose together, but at the end of the day, the willingness to work together.
The Jones girl stole the show, and I am as good with that as you can get…I love this team!
