More than once throughout the morning tour, I heard Fritz share with the others that he tells his team that "Honesty is the best policy. If something goes wrong, it is better to be honest and deal with it now, not later. Customers expect honesty and the only way they will get that is if there is complete honesty amongst the team." Frazier said that he knows everyone makes mistakes and it really only becomes a problem when not addressed, dealt with, hopefully with lessons learned, and then moved beyond as a wiser person. He said that he had to let people go on occasion, not because of the mistake or accident that happened, but because the person was not honest and willing to own up to it. Leaders accept the responsibility of their actions. 

The Winter Services Leadership Team

I want to spend a few extra lines on this quote because it's the one that I believe gives insight into the success of the Winter Services team over the last 6 years. When I asked the veteran Winter Services employee who was there from the beginning how many trucks they had when they started, she said 5 and only a couple of them ran. The next question was obvious, "How did you get to where you are today with a huge warehouse full of trucks, ATVs and the equipment necessary to service  an impressive customer base in the Milwaukee area?" Without hesitation she said, "We believed in Fritz." After a chuckle from the crowd, Fritz stood and with a shrug of his shoulders said, "I don't think it was just Fritz. We believed in each other and what we were doing and believed that we could accomplish the goals that we set. That has been the real magic in what we have been able to do. We just believed. We just believed in each other and what we were doing and each person's role in the company."

That idea of belief and the impact it has on a company has always intrigued me. Quite frankly, over the years of working with companies, I have watched many that maybe lacked the sophistication, business acumen, leadership and people skills that we put so much stock in grow into very successful companies simply because they simply believed that they could succeed. They almost willed themselves to achieve their goals and the things they set out to accomplish. They believed in what they were doing and the vision they had so much they did everything they could to make sure it happened. They participated in training, and went to association meetings to network with their peers. They were not too proud to ask for help from someone that had the knowledge and willingness to help. And most of all they worked at making sure that a team was assembled that was ambitious enough to believe in success and would never allow themselves the luxury of discouragement or failure as an excuse. 

Contrast that with the companies who have been to every seminar, read every business book and brought in consultants, and even had the talent to succeed but are still struggling to find success because their belief level doesn't carry them past the challenges of the day to reach the goals of the future. Belief is not just sitting back and waiting for success to find you; in its purest form, belief is ambition. It takes strength and commitment to make the conscious choice to go out and find success no matter what obstacle is temporarily lying in your path.

Fritz did the things that are necessary for success like putting a great team together, setting up systems and standards, staying focused on customers and pouring an enormous amount of time and energy into building the business.  But when all of that is fueled by the right level of belief, success will be found, and for many it just might be around the corner if they will just stick with it a little longer.

When we hear a true leader say, "You just got to believe," what they are telling us is you just have to be willing to do whatever it takes to achieve your goals.

So what about you and me? What is our belief level, right now toward achieving our goals? How did you feel getting out of bed this morning? Did you dread walking out the door and tackling the day or did you have a sense of energy because you really believe in what you are doing? If the determining factor between where we are and where we want to be comes down to our belief level, then why would we not change our attitude toward the work we need to do? Why not start today along with Fritz Frazier and the rest of the Winter Services team and just believe we can get there . . . all we need to do is . . . whatever it takes.

- Jim Paluch