Excellence in Meeting People Needs

Today is the Margie Larson’s birthday. Margie is a great co-worker and fun to work and talk with. Margie sends out our paychecks. Everybody loves Margie.
But Margie’s birthday also symbolizes something else that is important in our company’s history. Margie often pointed out to me that Bob Hookom was hired on her birthday.

And we are the company that we are today because Elmo and Frank gave a job to my favorite Norwegian-American.

Bob started as an apprentice electrician at Willmar Electric in the 1960’s. From there Bob worked his way up and around the leadership of Willmar Electric. When Bob’s career ended at Willmar Electric in 2005 he was what we called our Designer. From a practical sense that meant that Bob did the designing work on the projects where we were a Design-Build contractor. Bob never got an engineering degree but his work was beyond what nearly all engineers do today. Because he had come up through the ranks at Willmar Electric his understanding was superior to many of the people that managed to get a bunch of letters to put after their names.

Bob was very good at what he did. Bob was a great coworker. (If I had a dollar for every time somebody like Dave Sherod told me about how great Bob was and how much they looked up to him I would retire.)

There are no limits to the amount of time people like My Dad and Larry Marcus could spend telling you stories about working with Bob. Any long time coworker of Bob would be able to speak to his excellence. If you had a question about a certain application of electrical work or about the National Electric Code, Bob was your help desk at Willmar Electric. He was an endless resource.

I think that Bob is model for, at least, one of our core values. Meeting our customer’s needs.

Bob had what was described as a photographic memory. If Bob read, saw or heard something he remember it forever. He would file all those memories away and bring them back when the application for that specific memory came back into play. Bob wanted to make sure every customer got exactly what they needed. Like our current designs, Bob’s designs where based on customer needs. Bob set up the model for meeting our customer needs that we continue to promote at Willmar Electric. He didn’t want the customer to get something that they didn’t need nor did he want a customer to have a solution that came up short. (I will admit that I have never asked LaVonne if Bob truly never forgot anything.)

I have no idea who first said it but I am sure that you have heard the phrase “anything worth doing is worth doing right.” Bob Hookom lived his life with that thought in mind. He was never lazy nor did he take short cuts that might leave a customer short changed.

Excellence is the best word I could use to describe Bob. (Although he would likely prefer that I used Norwegian-American.)

Bob did things with excellence and I often recall memories of him when I am doing things and wonder if my actions are to his standard of excellence.

Bob passed away a few years ago and what follows is a tribute to Bob Hookom written by my brother Justin at that time.


A Tribute

Robert (Bob) Hookom began working for Willmar Electric Service on September 24, 1962. On that day Bob, an apprentice electrician, joined Elmo and Frank Chapin as one of the first employees of WES. He was hired because Frank had heard from John Haines he was smart and would make a good electrician. During the month between when he gave his notice to his previous employer and when he started at WES, Frank gave him a few books to read to get him started. Frank anticipated the reading would last at least a few weeks, but Bob finished the books in just a few days. Needless to say, the reports they had heard about Bob’s skills were proved correct time after time.

Bob had an outstanding memory, and this combined with his common sense, helped him to quickly advance in the electrical industry. He first earned is Minnesota Journeyman’s electrical license and then his Master’s electrical license. By the end of his career, he had acquired licenses in over 30 states, an amazing fact given the autonomy of electrical licensing in the United States. As WES grew and clients brought the company to new locations, licenses were never a difficult hurdle. Bob was asked to take the exam and qualify the license and with only one exception he obtained the license; on the ill-fated occasion, the exam was designed so that no one would be able to pass - the local officials did not want outside contractors to come into their area.

Bob was a recognized leader at WES. In the industry he was highly respected in the areas of the National Electric Code (NEC) and electrical contracting. If you needed help understanding code requirements, you only needed to go to Bob to get the accurate interpretation. When a large general contractor needed a class on electrical estimating and construction, Bob was the natural teacher. As apprentices were being trained at WES, the person to do the code instruction was always Bob. Bob’s understanding of electrical construction was amazing!

The NEC was not the only interest in his life. The Norwegian heritage in his family was not something you had to pry out of him; it was very much a part of who he was. The love of his heritage was easily seen in his priorities. Numerous trips to Norway to spend time with family and friends living there, dedication to Sons of Norway and other Norwegian groups were passions in his life. It was always fun to listen to the connections he made while gathering with these friends.

Bob was passionate about music and if you had an office near him you were often reminded of his love of music. He also sang in the church choir at Calvary Lutheran Church for many years. He was passionate about time with family and often was going to events with and for his grandchildren. Bob was passionate about people.

Bob leaves a legacy of lives that he invested in. He will be remembered fondly by Willmar Electric Service and its employees. He was an incredible friend to so many. It is hard to imagine WES without Bob Hookom. He retired in 2001, but continued to work on special projects through the end of 2005.

Willmar Electric has been giving a scholarship to Willmar Senior High graduates that are intending to pursue careers in construction for a number of years. In Bob’s honor we are going to change the name from the Willmar Electric Scholarship to the Bob Hookom Memorial Scholarship. In this small way, we would like to honor Bob’s memory, his dedication to construction, and life-long learning.

Bob Hookom was a wonderful man. Willmar Electric Service counts it a privilege and honor to have had him a member of our team. He will be dearly missed.

Luke is the Future

The following link is to another blog written by Donna Puglisi.

Donna spent a week in Nebraska and during that time see ran into one of our Project Foreman. What follows is a very good interview about what is good about our industry and opportunities provided to people like Luke Fosket. Luke is actively engaged in his future and because of that his future is very bright.

If I could have 150 Luke Foskets I would only need 120!!!

http://workforceunderconstruction.com/featured/advice-from-a-foreman-qa-with-luke-fosket/

Check out workforceunderconstuction.com to see wonderful blogs from Donna and other dedicated to advancing the construction industry and promoting opportunities within the industry.

Time to Read

My oldest child has gone off to college and that seems to mean that I have more time in my life. Not sure why it isn't like Anne was taking up very much of my time. She was able to drive herself to all her events. So except playing card games in the dining room and talking about life with Anne I am not sure where all the free time came from.

But I have been using that time to read more. It made me reflect on the best books I have ever read. (I am not going to include the Bible on my list. It is the best book I have ever read but it belongs on in a separate class.)

Top 10 in no particular order.

• Raise and Fall of the Third Reich By William L Shirer
• Good to Great by Jim Collins
• The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni
• Born Again by Chuck Colson
• Making it all Work by David Allen
• Faithful by Stephen King
• Cruse of the Bambino by Dan Shaughnessy
• Battle Cry Freedom by James M McPherson
• A Son of Thunder: Patrick Henry and the American Republic by Henry Mayer
• Business by the Book by Larry Burkett

I feel guilty not making a longer list but I have to stop somewhere.

I might start rereading them all this winter.

A Pauses that Shows Love

A few days ago my wife, two oldest children and I were sitting around discussing our day. As the conversation progressed my wife asked me a question. I can’t even remember what the exact topic was we were discussing or my wife’s exact question but what I do remember was that it was a very silly question.

I know that we all have been told there are no stupid questions and I am not saying that my wife’s question was stupid but I do remember that it was a sign she hadn’t been paying close attention to our conversation.

As soon as the question left her lips I paused because my first reaction was to mock the question that I was being asked. In fact I paused just long enough for my children to demonstrate that they had less restraint then me.

My children made fun of their loving mother because she had asked a silly question.

So I quickly jumped in and pointed out to my children that they shouldn’t treat their mother like that.

Score two for Dave!!! My children had pointed out the error in my wife’s ways (so I didn’t have to) and I was able to empress her by coming to her defense (because husbands should defend their wives).

But the truth is that nobody really needed to mock Sue. Regardless of who we are talking to, especially our spouses or parents we should treat others with respect at all times and making fun of people for what they have said typically doesn’t convey respect.

Our company is based on treating people the way we want to be treated. It is one of our core values.

On the day in the living room with my wife and children I paused before I spoke and lucky for me it gave me a chance to learn from my inaction for once. I got to see how important it is that we think before we speak. That paused allowed me to treat somebody I loved with respect rather than judgment.

Treating others the way you want to be treated sometimes involves not doing or saying something you are tempted to do.

Be a Genius not an Idiot

The book "Sparks" by Randy Goruk has a line that says “You are always on stage, so be authentic, but as you are being yourself, remember to always be professional and mature. Don’t put yourself in a position of bad mouthing others or yelling at someone. Be authentic, but don’t be an idiot.”


I send out tips from Sparks every week to key management personal at Willmar Electric. When I sent out the tip above I was blessed to receive the following addition from our Human Resource Director, Jay Tornquist.





"In some ways it is the ultimate vanity, if a person thinks that “being themselves” is the best way to be. That means we are stating that we are the best….perfect.


I believe that we need to be who we are, authentic, with the knowledge that we are led by a sinful nature (which, if not checked, demands we put ourselves first).


By treating others the way we want to be treated and by being People making a difference for People, it encourages us to put others first, giving us an opportunity to improve as a person, thereby increasing our professionalism, maturity, and sincerity.


People want to be led by (or be part of a group where) individuals that are confident in themselves but respect other opinions and are confident enough in themselves to listen and learn.


Some “leaders” have a need to knock others down to appear as though they are better- this is an Idiotic method.
Great leaders rise naturally and bring others up with them, which many times brings success and great accomplishments….this is Genius!"




Jay offers some awesome advice and at the same time he reinforces one of Willmar Electric’s core values.


Treat others the way you want to be treated.

Hard Work Doesn't Always Pay Off in the End.

A few weeks ago while hauling a high school friend of my sons to a sporting event we were talking about his potential college choices and I made that off handed comment that "even if he ended up in the NBA I would always think of him as the dork that shot baskets during every break in his little sisters basketball games." Recently that same family friend was offered a scholarship to play basketball at large school on the west coast. It was exciting news for the young man and everybody that knows him. When I heard the news I thought to myself all that shooting really paid off. But then I remembered another friend of my sons that also shot baskets during the breaks of his older sister’s games. That friend was done playing basketball by the time he was in 8th grade. Don't get me wrong this young man is also a good athlete. He was in last year’s state tennis meet!!! But in the end basketball didn't work out for him. It was the same thing for both young man. As soon as the whistle blew and the team headed to the bench for a timeout or a quarter break the brother would grab his ball and start shooting until the referee shoed them off the court so that the game could resume. In one case he result was a college scholarship (and maybe more) but in the other case the brother was done playing basketball by the time he was in 8th grade. Why the difference? Why did one young man excel while the other young man was passed by all his peers? Gifts and talents. One had desire and work hard and when it was combined with the body, gifts and talents God had blessed him with I reach high levels. But in the other case hard work and desire weren't enough. He lacked the body, gifts and talent to excel at basketball. What's my point? Hard work and desire are key ingredients for success in what we do in life. We need to study our craft and continuously improve but we are all made with unique gifts and talents. We each need to find what our gifts and talents are and make the most of those gifts and talents. Continuing to pursuit things that we aren't gifted in is a waste of resources. In one case it was basketball and that friend is making the most of it. In the other case it wasn't basketball and that friend realized it. So he went out and found other places that he was gifted in. The bottom line is hard Work doesn't always pay off in the end. Hard work can just be wasted energy if we spend that energy on the wrong things. I understand that shooting baskets during a break isn't necessarily waste energy. It is fun to shot hoops even if big time basketball isn't in your future. But in the larger picture of life how many of us know people that continue to work at a job that they are ill-suited for or know people that continue to expand energy in directions that they aren't gifted at? It can be the same feeling that we get when we work hard on something, even putting in overtime only to find out we didn’t do the project correctly or forgot to get a part so the task can’t be finished. Wasting resources isn't thrifty. Regardless if that resource is time, money or talent. It is important that we are always thrifty with what God has entrusted us with.

Accountablity

Today I had a lunch meeting.  A co-worker and I went to Applebee's and had a long talk about a lot of different things.  After being served our food the waiter brought us our bill and send they would take care of it whenever we where ready. 

A short time later an acquaintance of mine came into the restaurant and sat at the table next to us.

We continued to talk for quite a while and as we started to run out of time the two of us gathered our things and left the restaurant. 

When I returned to my desk I decided it was a good time to file my expense reports.  As I gather up the receipts from the last month's worth of expenses I noticed that I was missing a receipt.  Then it occurred to me.  I had just left Applebee's without paying the bill.  I had just skipped out on the bill.  Dined and dashed!!

I was at a crossroads.  Two of our core values coming in conflict with each other.

On one hand I could follow the honest path and "treat others how I wanted to be treated," go back to Applebee's and pay the bill.  That would be honest.  I had eaten the food and owed the money.

On the other hand I could select another of our core values and choose to be "Thrifty."  After all I had already left the restaurant and nobody was going to come after me and try to get my money. 

"Treating others the way I wanted to be treated" or "Thrifty." 

After having a very good laugh (at my expense) with my co-workers I drove back to Applebee's to pay the bill.  It really wasn't that hard of the decision.  I although I let the thought "well thrifty is a core value and not paying the bill would be thrifty," I do know right from wrong and I knew I had to do the right thing.

When I got to Applebee's on my return trip the place was still packed, so I had to wait for somebody to come to the hostess station so I could settle up.  While I waited I noticed my friend was still sitting at his table.

He motioned me over to his table and asked if I had forgotten to pay my bill.  (As he sat there reading his Bible!)  I confused that was my reason for returning to the restaurant and he relied to me that when the wait staff went to clear the table they noticed that neither my table mate or I had paid our bill.  My friend said that he informed the Applebee's staff that it was out of character for me to not pay my debts.  He told that I would in fact be paying the bill  at some point (when I remembered that I had forgotten).

I considered it high praise that my friend had that much confidence in my character.  I would have gone back to pay me bill regardless of the fact that an acquaintance had seen me at Applebee's but if he hadn't been their I would never have received the compliment he paid me nor would I have been convicted that people notice your character even when you don't expect it.

(I left the names blank because I don't want you to judge my co-worker because he also skipped out the bill.  The acquaintance/friend and I work at the scorers table for high school basketball games together.  So our interaction is limited to breaks in the action but during those brief moments of time during the last basketball season I left him with a standard of how I conduct my life and to be honest I would expect the same thing of Herb Schrader.)