At Crestcom, we know that leadership training can improve performance, increase employee engagement and productivity, and strengthen teams in any organization. Our monthly modules, group discussions and action plans help managers sharpen their leadership skills, which leads to great results!
Recently, we were reminded of the personal and professional impact our programs have on our participants. Chip Baker, an authorized Crestcom Licensee delivering leadership development in Chatanooga, Tennessee, shared a heartfelt letter from a recent participant that truly explains the value of Crestcom L.E.A.D.R.
A Heartfelt Thank-You To Crestom & Chip Baker
Gentlemen, I wanted to thank you both in some way. I can never repay what this opportunity has given me, but I can memorialize the impact in the following letter.
Let me start by saying I have always been a leader; it came naturally. This ability has often surprised me. As an example: During a retreat for all companywide management, I led everyone, even the CEO, through all obstacles and team-building exercises. It happened without thinking, in a natural flow. At the end of the week, Corporate Officers and General Managers voted on an MVP and being in the company of such well-educated, heavily experienced and capable managers, to my shock, I received this honor. . . .
. . . .Throughout my career, this confidence was shaken by micromanagement, gas lighting and ill-intentioned individuals over many years. I no longer trusted my natural leadership instincts and had come to hate my job and those around me. I dreaded work daily.
With a goal of simply trying to survive one more year to reach my 30-year anniversary in the outdoor business, this adventure started. With 29 years in the industry and 20 years in management/leadership, I was honestly somewhat offended and resentful of the suggestion that I needed leadership training, given I had been doing it for decades. Little did I know how much I needed leadership training and the impact it would have on my life and those around me, both personally and professionally.
I started in management in January 2004 with no education or experience on the subject. I didn’t even know how to turn on a computer much less use it. Self-taught, grinding through endless hours and the determination to succeed. In the words of Henry Rollins, “I don’t have talent, I have tenacity; I have discipline; I have focus. And I know without any illusion where I come from and what I can go back to.” Which, for me, was dirt poor in a time when government assistance didn’t amount to much. I was determined to break that cycle.
I didn’t lead. I managed people through fear and intimidation, disrespecting those “beneath me” and firing on a whim. In those days, there were ten people standing in line for every position, and I had a nonexistent HR department. Boy, has that changed!
Self-taught, self-made and arrogant. My wife, family, team, coworkers and management found me hard to deal with. Hell, I found me hard to deal with.
In 2015, we merged with Adams Outdoor and a new corporate management team. [Redacted], treated me as I had been treating others for the last ten years. Like most difficult things in life, this was a valuable experience. The experience opened my eyes to how others viewed me, and the years of resentment I had caused. I began to soften somewhat but still defended myself with viciousness at any perceived slight or critique of my “management” style or decisions.
I was struggling with over-the-top reactions, instant regret and the inability or skills to readdress and apologize for my actions.
Fast forward to July 2023, I find myself in a conference room with my GM, Scott Hibberts and Crestcom’s very own Chip Baker. Again, resentful and frankly pissed at the thought I needed Leadership training (if only I knew then what I know now). The first month, I was hooked, and the following five months revolutionized my “management” into true leadership. As an avid reader, it activated a thirst to educate myself on leadership to supplement the Crestcom curriculum. I began devouring books on leadership such as How to Win Friends and Influence People, Start with Why, Leaders Eat Last, The Coaching Habit, The One Thing, First Break All the Rules, Multipliers, Measure What Matters, Deep Work and Never Split the difference.
A year or so prior to Crestcom, I had been offered a book by a co-manager that I had a severe personality conflict with (showing my lack of emotional intelligence), and I vowed to never read it. However, as I grew and matured through Crestcom, I did read that book (Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin) and it supercharged my operation!
I’m all in at this point and would have happily paid for the Crestcom training out of my own pocket. By this time, I’m leading down, sideways and up, revamping my operation and myself. In one-on-ones with my employees at the end of 2023, I heard the same thing repeated, “I hated working for, and with you, now I enjoy it,” but the biggest compliment came from a surprising source, . . . . a 35-year employee that doesn’t give compliments and hasn’t liked me since I started as a floor sweeper in 1994… he said “Kurt I never thought I would say this, but I like working for you and appreciate how you take care of us guys” I’m not one to get choked up, but I had to act like I had something in my eye for a minute.
Covid, of course, made things difficult for everyone, and hiring was nonexistent. My small operational team was overworked and understaffed, and our workload continued to increase. And THEN…
On the Saturday before New Year’s Day, a DUI driver hit our building at 2:00 am, plowing 100 miles per hour through 4 offices, condemning the building and plunging us into the dark ages overnight. As of today, 7-11-24, the building remains condemned, and despite this, we have not only remained consistent but also improved production. The car couldn’t be removed for six weeks, leaking gas slowly into the building, and we had no power, no heat, no electronics, files destroyed…a true nightmare scenario.
Had it not been for Crestcom, my three-decade career would not have survived (I’m not being dramatic, but I couldn’t have handled this before). I quickly took action, assessed and prepared. By noon the day of the accident, the crew and I had the building secured, and by January 2nd, my crew was operational. We were able to continue as if nothing had happened in an extreme environment. The communication skills learned in Crestcom were invaluable. Short, accurate, and on-time information was passed to the concerned leadership and sales staff, allowing them to confidently move forward. New processes for installation materials and supplies were fully implemented, and the reasons were understood by the crew.
I used every lesson in Crestcom’s arsenal during that time: accountability culture, breaking bias, adaptive leadership, stimulating creativity, shaping decisions, mental agility and resilience, single-tasking and the myth of multitasking, delegation, turning conflict into collaboration, team fusion, coaching, asking the right questions to deliver results, talent management, fostering inclusion, mastering negotiations, managing change, decision-making process, multigenerational leadership, being present, influencing with intention, trust with truthfulness and customer retention.
Today will round out my leadership training with strategic foundations and one of my favorite topics- emotional intelligence.
I started the program as a Manager with little confidence and prayed not to be called as a table leader. I quickly became a leader with high confidence and a humble spirit who volunteers for table lead!
I can’t express enough my thanks to Scott, Chip and Reagan Outdoor for this opportunity. The ROI for this training can’t be measured, but it is well into multiples and I will continue to utilize everything I’ve learned.
Thank you so very much!
Kurt Pulver
Operations Manager
Crestcom L.E.A.D.R. transforms managers into leaders at work, at home and in the community! The skills learned in our training programs are genuinely life-changing. If you want to learn more about Crestcom’s leadership development programs, find a trainer near you today!
