After the economic world was turned on its axis last Fall, many companies went into a panic, circled the wagons or even headed for the hills. The smart ones regrouped, recalculated or even reorganized.
Such was the case of general contractor Gerry Crawley. In fact, it could be said of his company, ARC General Contracting that they “rewound” back to the beginning.
“When the whole world went off its axis, nobody knew what the fallout was,” Crawley said. “You get immobilized by fear. It makes you reactionary.”
What’s more, employees can smell fear and then they become immobilized.
Soon, however, he realized during last year’s decline that he was not a business crisis but rather a crisis of faith. Even though ARC was listed as a Top 25 General Contractor in the Kansas City Business Journal he began to question how good they really were.
It began with some soul-searching. “I decided to take a look at ‘Who we are, why are we here’ and ‘what is our purpose?’” That’s stripping it down to the basics for a company with a successful 10 year track record.
“You can bury your head in the sand or make a commitment to change,” Crawley says.
For Crawley, he knew he couldn’t tackle this re-think, alone. He brought in Action business coach Caroline Smith to guide them through a process. She helped Crawley examine who ARC was as a business by talking with him and his employees which eventually led to a higher level of communication.
That work led to a one-page strategic business plan that he refers to regularly, modeled after a document that John D. Rockefeller used to keep his life and work on track.
“It has really streamlined our whole effort and made everybody’s objectives more pure and simple and clean. It’s like all the chaff went away.” He now shares this plan and the company’s financial results at least quarterly with all of his employees. That diminishes fear and builds trust.
“You work to build trust,” Crawley said. “It’s hard to make a profit without it.”
Crawley has a business philosophy that has become the company’s motto: “Service over Self-Interest.”
“Whatever we do, I’m simply a steward of the client’s money,” he says. “We’re just like a big ATM machine.”
What kept Crawley from pulling the ripcord and bailing like so many others? “My wife has asked me this question many times. About November of last year when things were at their darkest, I came to the conclusion that there’s really no option other than to be a success. You just have to work your way through this,” Crawley adds. “It’s pretty simple at the end of the day. It’s my choice.”
In talking with Crawley, it seems evident that he doesn’t make “his choice” based on ego. He wants to continue to build a company that he can pass to future employees.
Now that’s a good reason to fight the good fight.
To find out more about ARC, go here
To find out more about Action Business Coach Caroline Smith, go here
Article by Paul J. Welsh
Gerry Crawley of ARC General Contracting [28:06m]: 
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