“Cultivating Success”—not just a slogan, an ethos
Webster's dictionary says "cultivating" is to improve something by labor, care, or study. Few things are more rewarding than that earned through hard work.
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To “cultivate”—Webster’s dictionary says that it means, among other things, to foster the growth of something by labor, care, or study.
At Garnet River, we love that definition. Fostering growth—of your organization, of our business, of all our people—we’ve seen it firsthand, and there are few things in life more rewarding.
We especially like the second part of that definition: “by labor, care, or study.” We believe in the benefits of hard work, we understand the importance of people caring for people, and we recognize that if you want to learn, you have to study.
At Garnet River, each of us has one or more domains that is a focus of our study. We each aim to be practical experts in our chosen domains. But we also study people to be effective collaborators. We understand that there is no greater myth than the myth of the “self-made man.” Real, sustainable success requires effective, collaborative teamwork.
A book entitled Rocket Fuel, by Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters, is enlightening on this topic. It describes the cultivation of success that flows from a close, synergistic collaboration between two types of leaders: the Visionary and the Integrator. This phenomenon helps explain Garnet River’s dramatic growth in recent years.
I fit the profile of the Integrator. As Garnet River’s President, I excel at running the business. I translate our vision and strategy into execution. I lead our Colleagues by focusing on their strengths and building complementary teams. I enjoy a close working relationship with our CEO, Steve Richards, who fits the profile of Visionary. Steve excels at seeing patterns in the big picture, has lots of ideas (every day!), and is good at business development. We cultivate success from different, but complimentary vantage points. For us, cultivating success requires a respectful and candid assessment of each person’s strengths and finding the role that is their “highest and best use.” Dwelling on a person’s weaknesses is not the answer. Allowing people to be who they truly are is essential.
