The Anchor in the Storm

Good morning, everybody. Dennis Engelbrecht with The Family Business Institute and our podcast Digging Deeper.

The AGC puts out a SmartBrief, which comes out daily and at the end of the SmartBrief, they always have an inspirational
quote. Yesterday the quote was, "To understand the worth of the anchor you need to feel the stress of the storm.” To
understand the worth of the anchor, you need to feel the stress of the storm. And this is by Corrie Ten Boom who, I have
to admit, I never heard of, but anyway, thank you for the quote. That quote really got me thinking and thinking about, the
importance of the anchor, our leaders in our business being anchors and what that means to the business. And thinking
of our challenging times that we're in today, both with the COVID pandemic going on as well as obviously the US is now in
a recession and we're going to be coming out of that recession and that oftentimes bodes for troubled times ahead for
the construction industry, which usually is a lager to the general economy.

And, through this, I've witnessed a lot of great anchors out there among our member companies, people who have stood
solid with the challenges of the pandemic environment and the changes going on both on the job sites, in the office,
remote or distance working and all of those different challenges going on and we have some great anchors. So, what I
want you to think about are a couple of things. Number one, who are your anchors in your business? Who are the leaders
who step up to fill the void, do the extra when things are trouble? Then we'd probably have a new perspective now if we
just look back over the last six months in the challenges that's presented, you may have a clear picture of who those people
really are in your organization.

Who are the ones that present that reassuring demeanor, and calm the troops in those times? We also may not think of
these, but there also have those sort of silent cogs in the wheel who just continue to do their jobs while others might be
stressed or frantic or need additional coaching. And those silent cogs who just keep on working in these times are fantastic
because we can put our attention to other folks because we know they're always there and they're always doing their job.
And one thing you might think of is a little appreciation going out to those folks as you think about who they are, and you
recognize them. The next question I want to put out there is, are you being an effective anchor for your company? And
just take an outsider's perspective, look at, have you provided support to those who need it?

Have you stayed calm and continued to reflect a positive and dynamic vision for your organization to follow? And another
aspect of this sort of anchor is us thinking, as I drove over here today about success, and we look at our future leaders and
you think about yourself as being the anchor in the storm, if you're the senior leader of the company, but who's going to
be that anchor after you? Who is it that the organization would naturally turn to to be that solid base that protects and
keeps everything sheltered from the winds of change that are going to come against your business? And finally, just one
other aspect about feeling the stress of the storm and being that anchor is who is your anchor personally? Who provides
for you the stability in your life? Is it a coworker? Is it a partner relationship? Is it a mentor? And make sure that you take
the time to appreciate and support the anchors in your life as well because I think that's oftentimes underappreciated,
particularly as times do get a little bit stormy.

So again, thanks for tuning in, Dennis Engelbrecht, Digging Deeper.