Starting Well

As we anticipate a burgeoning spring—with all of its whispered promises of growth and life to come—this moment of quiet is pregnant for reflection. In the calm before the storm, we look before and behind us. We steady ourselves on the horizon and take a deep breath.

Abraham Lincoln once said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” He does not say, “first, I will sharpen the axe,” but rather that he will spend two thirds of his allotted time caring for his tool and preparing it for the test of its effectiveness. From team development to process management to simply getting our heads on straight, mindful preparation is essential. Thirty years have taught us that success is collective, or it is not success at all. Reflecting on the throes of time, we smile to see Night Light’s community and culture, built on the backs of the men and women who create us.

Sharpening our axe looks like spending twenty hours in strategic planning and hundreds more in individual initiatives to streamline one another’s lives. It looks like proactively considering the solutions we can share internally and with others in our industry. It looks like investing in tools and training for the long haul and planning for the trajectory of our team. And it looks like listening to and honoring the variety of perspectives our people bring to the table.

We are grateful for the beginning of a new season! This year we have repositioned our veteran team members to lead us into the next chapter. We spent the winter in transition to increase bandwidth and individual thriving. Now it is time to swing, whittling away at the 2019 season and finding new chinks to smooth out. May we always be willing to stop and sharpen our axe when necessary, so we can stride on with confidence!