C.Esther DeWolde
I’m not gonna lie to you.
Sharing 25 Persons of Influence with you this year has been hard! Not because I was coming up short on names, but rather because I felt it was in my best interest to be a little politically correct, so I didn’t offend that friend or employee over and above this one and…..I trust you feel my dilemma.
So at the risk of being all milk toast and honey, I am ending this series by stating that my 25th Person(s) of Influence is my Phantom family of employees.
Every CEO probably brags about their team and how great they are. If you know me well though, I’m quite alright with being contrary especially when it means speaking the truth.
They aren’t always great. Sometimes they frustrate me to no end.
BUT here’s what I do love about them: they care.
They are dedicated to not just their jobs but to Phantom as a company.
The highest compliment I can pay an employee is when I say: “now he/she wears Phantom underwear”. I used to say they bleed blue and gold but now that our logo has dropped the gold coloring in favour of a fresh deep navy blue only, my original saying has become defunct!
But you get the point.
I really do love and respect our employees at Phantom. They challenge me each and every day to be a better leader and a better human being.
They don’t hold back, they say how they feel and they constantly keep me on my toes. It’s a great influential atmosphere that continually challenges me not to become complacent.
Are they perfect? No. Because they are human just like you and me. But because they want to do the right thing and have attitudes of right intentions, it’s much easier to overlook the less-than perfect results because I know they aren’t going to walk away and leave me stranded. And you cannot buy that kind of loyalty.
Do some of our employees leave Phantom Screens? Of course they do.
But I count that as success too, if being at Phantom helped them find themselves or open doors to pursue opportunities elsewhere. I wish them well and very much enjoy our distinguished Phantom alumni now living all over the world. I love hearing from them – which I often do.
Do all our employees love Phantom as much as I make them sound like they do? Of course not.
I’m not naive, even though there are days I’d rather pretend as much! But here’s the thing. If we’re continually striving to do our job right as an employer, they’ll find their honesty and either come around or move on to something that suits them even better!
So there you have it. Blog#25.
We got to the end of this marathon blog series together!
After two and a half decades, I have a pretty amazing and awesome and big Phantom family. It stretches around the world and is full of the most extraordinary people who have all touched my life in some way – big or small.
It’s a journey I wouldn’t swap for the world and has been a true and rich blessing from God.
So to close, I thought I’d share a very quick video from our Christmas potluck lunch last week with all my current employees who I am proud to call my Phantom family!
A blessed New Year to you all!