Atchison, Kansas. Columbia, Missouri. Greeley, Colorado. Joplin, Missouri. Manhattan, Kansas. Pacific Junction, Iowa. Wichita, Kansas. These are just a few of our summer road trips outside the Kansas City metro as we hit the pavement to visit our customers!
Stewardship is one of our core values at Cornerstone. We are big believers in giving gratitude to others for the gifts we have been given. This gratitude extends to our customers. It is not lost on us that our customers have many options to do business!
Below are 10 of our favorite memories and highlights from our summer road trips:
1. Love that our customers work in very foundational markets – farming, food, manufacturing, roofing, steel, etc. and we have the privilege to drive through some of our country’s most beautiful landscapes to visit and celebrate the foundational work they do for our country and the people required to make it happen.
2. The Flint Hills and the planes of Kansas are incredibly beautiful.
3. Just like in retail, it is location, location, location that matters. For our clients, it is Culture, Culture, Culture that wins!
4. Attending a customer appreciation dinner with the entire leadership team to celebrate the one-year anniversary of a successful acquisition. Very grateful and humbled to be part of their growth story as we helped recruit three great leaders who are making a positive impact on the organization!
5. Facilitating the Six Types of Working Genius leadership development workshop with 40 leaders to better understand, appreciate and strengthen how the team works together to be more self aware, more aligned, more productive and more successful.
6. Receiving unexpected news that a customer made a second leadership hire for one of its subsidiary companies (after a very competitive search process). Very exciting for all parties!
7. Shaking hands for the first time with two new leaders we recruited and placed in 2024 – both of whom have already earned promotions within their first six months of employment.
8. Listening to one of our customer’s share how they successfully transformed the organizational health of its leadership team and company culture with a focus on clarity, accountability and results.
9. Having an unexpected 3-hour layover in the Denver airport which allowed me to read the book, “Grand Slam for God” by Father Burke Masters. Very inspirational!
10. Having real conversations with CEOs about courageous leadership – especially during difficult market conditions, economic challenges and change management. One thing is certain: courageous leadership is contagious!
Above all, our summer road trips allow us to take a moment and appreciate our past and present customers with gratitude. We look forward with confidence and enthusiasm as we continue to build upon this foundation.
No matter where we go or who we visit, people are paramount and on the minds of every leader on how best to attract, retain and develop talent for success.
