Family Album

Genuine Partners
By: Mike Bolen

Well, we went ahead and did it. The buyout of Mike McCarthy's interests in the company — and their eventual transfer to each of you — is the single most important thing to happen in our company's 138-year history. That's a strong statement to make, but it's one that I think is very valid. When someone makes such a statement, the casual reader might tend to think that “everything is now going to change.”

As I've tried to stress in my on-going communications with everyone, that's not at all what this transaction is about. In the day-to-day operations of the company, very little will change. The old adage “if it ain't broke, don't fix it” certainly applies here. We have the people, the processes, the procedures and the technology — all of them tested and proven in battle — to prosper going forward. So, what does all this really mean?

As simply as I can state it, it means that none of us are working at an ordinary job anymore. As Carter Chappell explained it so aptly in our meeting in Southern California, it means that each of us now “has more skin in the game.” It also means that we are all now working for each other. We are all working for something that's bigger than each of as individuals.

Interestingly, it also means that I now report to someone else. That someone else is each of you. And just like you need interaction and feedback from above and below to do your job effectively, I do too — now more than ever. So I challenge you in these coming years to let me know how we're doing — and how we could do things better.

Some other companies like ours who have gone through this type of ownership transition have done very well for themselves and their employee owners on a strictly financial basis. And I believe that the same will be the case with McCarthy. That's great, and if nothing else comes out of this transition, I guess that would be OK.

Ten years from now, though, I'm predicting a powerful and potentially far more important consequence of this change. It won't be evident to the casual observer, it won't be in any procedure manual, and it certainly won't be found on the Intranet.

Where you can find it is inside each of us. It will be an attitude — an attitude that permeates our culture and our approach when dealing with each other and our clients. It will be an attitude that acknowledges and reinforces the notion that each and everyone of us, no matter our position or our location, has an important role and contribution to make. It will be an attitude that is built around the notion that all of us are, indeed, genuine partners.

This attitude is something, I believe, that can't and shouldn't be taught. It has to evolve, develop and grow within the company (and in each of us) for it be real and substantial — for it to be genuine. There is no deadline for achieving this, you can't plot it out on a schedule, and you can't mandate that it happen. But I believe it will, mostly in ways so subtle that we won't even realize it's happening.

What I'm getting at is that this attitude, this shared feeling, will be based on trust, mutual respect and a common goal of wanting to be not only the best builders in America, but also the best building company in America. A great added benefit here is that we have such a wonderful base upon which to build. That's the legacy of the McCarthy family, and that's the legacy of everyone who worked here in the past. They poured the foundation — now we have to finish the building.

What we're really talking about is our collective futures. And I believe that the “Genuine” motto, which many of you were introduced to a year or so ago, says it best. That motto ends with two simple statements: “This is our company. This is our business.” Now it truly is ours — and each of us should be mindful of the added responsibility that comes with that reality. We should also be tremendously proud of what we have accomplished, and very hopeful about our prospects. Fasten your seat belts, partners.