This week, one of my employees took our tablecloth home that we put our team lunch on, washed it, and returned it. I’m sure for her it was a small thing. She saw something that needed doing and did it. But for me it was a huge thing. Like monumentous.
Why was that so big to me? Even if I spelled out all of her job description, everything that would constitute her doing a fabulous job, and what excelling looked like in her position, it would never include laundering. It had nothing to do with her duties. Yet she saw the need and helped.
In small businesses, many of us wear many hats. When I worked in a Fortune 500 company, we had a person for running reports, a person for HR, a person for taking the trash out, a person for IT support, a person for taking care of duties like washing the tablecloths, etc. But as you can imagine, our small business has none of those. So as the person ultimately responsible for everything, I’m the one who usually washes the tablecloth.
When this employee washed the tablecloth, it really made me think about how lucky I am, but also about the team environment it takes to have a crew of people who see what needs to be done and do it. While this particular job caught my attention, most of our team goes above and beyond for our business and clients all the time. Our IT Director has started to turn down our thermostat every evening to save electricity (programmable thermostat on the way!). Our marketing team helps with IT walk-in traffic. I catch people picking up trash in the parking lot (we’re a straight line between St. James, the library, and Salvation Army—so we see quite a bit of migration and litter through our parking lot). Our cabling team has doubled as unpaid plumbers for our building. And sooo many more things!
I think the key to a team that goes above and beyond starts with the team part. They need to know they are all rowing in the same boat in the same direction. Some days their job is charting new territories and claiming new treasures. And other days it’s swabbing the deck. But all the days, it’s for the same joint mission that gets everyone where they want to be.
My job as the architect is two-fold: 1—To make sure all the rowers know the direction we’re heading. 2—Hire and train the rowers who are willing and able to row. And appreciation goes a long way.
Because let’s be honest: when you’re running businesses, it’s easy to feel like you’re the only one checking the hull for leaks. When someone steps outside their job description to fix a random problem, they aren’t just crossing a chore off a list. They are sharing the weight of ownership. They are saying, “I’ve got your back, and I care about this ship as much as you do.”
That kind of culture isn’t something you can force or write into a handbook. It only happens when you have the right people. Luckily for me, it’s happening across our businesses every single day.
To our IT Director who treats our utility bill like his own; to our marketing team who steps up to greet walk-ins without hesitation; to our cabling crew who adds “emergency plumbing” to their resume; and to the team members who quietly keep our parking lot clean—thank you.
And to our tablecloth launderer: you reminded me exactly why we do this.
We are building something remarkable here, not because we have flawless job descriptions, but because we have incredible people. Thank you for showing up, grabbing an oar, and rowing with intention. I am incredibly proud to navigate these waters with this crew.
Now, let’s keep moving forward.
