News

From the Treetop: Company and Personal Growth

May 20, 2020

By Greg Williams, Regional Manager

As I begin my 25th year as part of the team at WTS, I have been thinking about the changes I’ve seen in our company and the industry over the last quarter century. I began my career as a groundman on a manual crew in Kansas with no realization of what the future would hold for myself or WTS at the time. I was very fortunate to be surrounded by great teachers at an early stage of my career who quickly became more than just coworkers, they became friends and soon grew into an extension of my own family. In 2005, the company began to grow rapidly creating new and exciting opportunities for myself and anyone willing to step up and take on the challenges that existed with the expansion into new areas and new labor markets. As a company, we have continued to set new records with growth year after year for the past 15 years and largely maintained the same family values we held paramount as a small company.

I have thought many times over the years about why some companies continue to grow, while others falter and fade away. I believe success is a result of flexibility. Companies and employees who adapt to changes in their industry tend to grow while rigid companies and employees that refuse to adapt will crack under the strain. As a company grows, it must change and those changes are only possible when employees take on new challenges, expand their capabilities, cultivate new behaviors and entertain new ideas. In short, a company only grows when the people inside it grow first.

With Wright Service Corp. (WSC) University, General Foreman (GF) School, Project Manager/Supervisor School and continued improvement of our Safety, Education and Training (SET) team, I believe we are laying the foundation for continued growth and success for our company for generations to come. It is an exciting time as I watch our future leaders continue to develop and see them rise up to meet the challenges we face on a daily basis, armed with the information and tools they need to meet those challenges head on.

People have asked me on many occasions, “What has been the most rewarding part of your career?” The greatest reward I have gotten from this journey is watching the personal growth of the people around me, seeing them achieve things they never thought were possible and seeing that translate into company growth and success. If we do not challenge ourselves and those around us, we will never truly know what we can do as individuals and a team.

 

This article was published in “Our Family Tree,” a section of the Wright Service Corp. biannual newsletter, The Wright Perspective. Read the full newsletter here.