Team,
Happy new Year! I enter each January with optimism and excitement for the coming year and find myself particularly eager to welcome in 2016. We have much to be enthusiastic about and I look forward to what this new year will bring for us all.
As we kick-off our “Be” campaign for 2016 I wanted share some thoughts about one of my favorite topics, our culture. I often hear team members refer to our culture as warm, family-oriented and fun. All of these things are true and I’m proud of these characteristics and the caring environment that we have built together. When I reflect on our culture, however, the prevailing descriptor that comes to mind for me is a “winning” culture. I’d like to see us not shy away from words such as competitive, passionate and driven when describing our culture. We like to “win” and it’s this competitive nature that pushes us to perform at a high level individually and as a team. When we look to recruit new offices and team members we seek this passion and competitive edge that has made them successful in the past and we know will contribute to our collective future.
As we continue to build and evolve our culture together, I’d like to see us embrace the fact that performance is a core value at Digital. This seems straightforward but sometimes it’s hard to find a balance between a performance driven culture and one that prioritizes a caring and team oriented approach. We have all seen companies that have a warm and fun environment but still underperform as they lack this competitive edge. In contrast, we also know companies that are financially successful but do not conduct themselves with the integrity and humility that creates engagement and loyalty across the organization. I believe a true “winning” culture is one that engages and motivates its team members to perform at a high level, discourages behaviors that do not meet these standards and rewards performance that helps our team succeed. I also believe that this can be accomplished within an environment filled with integrity, compassion and fun. After all, it is fun to win!!
I read an article recently that struck a chord with me and reminded me of the rare culture that I believe we possess. It included a statement by an employee at Southwest Airlines, “We all work hard, but to do anything else would be like letting your family down.” When I watch the team effort that goes into closing new deals, supporting our clients and building our business, I’m proud to call us winners.
As we welcome in this new year, I’d like to encourage us all to celebrate the wins and embrace this competitive spirit. It’s what makes us special and helps to define our “winning” culture.
Cheers –
Adam
