The Summer of Excellence is one of my favorite initiatives each year. It provides an excellent platform for all employees to reflect and recognize how our coworkers, teams, and business units embrace Our Core Values.
This week, we focus on what I believe is our most profound core value – BE EXCELLENT! Excellence is the culmination and embodiment of all our other core values but is much easier said than done. It requires hard work, commitment, and a relentless pursuit to achieve excellence.
Excellence starts from the moment you wake up until the day's end and is often defined by overcoming challenges, a steadfast focus, and being motivated to Raise the Bar, personally and professionally. Over the past 18 months, our sales teams have faced unprecedented challenges stemming from the pandemic and unfavorable macroeconomics. However, they have exemplified excellence in their willingness and unwavering drive to keep selling despite the headwinds. Knowing each day would be a grind, they never got discouraged or deterred from the task at hand. As a result of their perseverance, we are gaining strong momentum in Industrial sales, and we are poised to set new sales records in Transportation and Financial Investigation Services (FIS).
This year we have also witnessed excellence through our wellness program with some Olympic level step counts and companywide participation. The HR department has done an excellent job designing, implementing, and managing our wellness program entirely for the benefit and well-being of employees. We want you to Find Balance and be at your best, both mentally and physically. As a huge advocate of this program, I can honestly say that I have been inspired and highly motivated by many participants. The "friendly" competition has also been fun, engaging, and rewarding. Much like the Olympics, it has been a pleasure watching individuals and teams overcome adversity, chase down their competition, and break records. Individuals have pushed themselves to set personal best and attain goals they never thought possible. More importantly, we have seen teammates Be a Team by encouraging one another while also holding each other accountable to their team goals.
The wellness program and these challenges are a microcosm of our business. We need every individual and department to perform at an optimal level. In our shared quest to Be Excellent, we must align our actions with our core values, maximize our strengths, improve our weaknesses, and always work together.
Remember, the difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra. If you are watching the Olympics or following our Wellness Program challenges, sometimes the difference between gold and silver is determined or measured by one-hundredth of a second. So, that little extra absolutely matters! Making that one extra call or sending one more email to a colleague, manager, executive, prospect, or client will make a difference.
Let's challenge ourselves to Be Excellent and set a new course for DISA's success. Together, we will focus, push forward, and elevate DISA to record-breaking growth.
"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift."
- Steve Prefontaine, American Olympian
