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June 28, 2010
Taking one more step than you thought you could
When Alan and I purchased Grand Circle 25 years ago, we wanted to create a different kind of company. Our corporate culture is very precious to us because it’s a reflection of who we are—and the foundation of this culture is our values, which include Teamwork, Risk-Taking, and Open & Courageous Communication.
In order to strengthen our corporate culture, we created BusinessWorks—a comprehensive business, leadership, and values program for our associates. In 1992, we held our first BusinessWorks event on Thompson Island in Boston. What started as an overnight excursion for less than 100 associates has now developed into a week-long gathering of more than 500 associates worldwide. But the main goal of BusinessWorks is to help our associates learn something about themselves, about their performance, and about the business. We hope that these learnings can be brought back to their jobs, homes, and communities.
On June 11, we closed our Boston office for the day so that all of our associates could participate in BusinessWorks 2010. More than 60 regional associates from around the world joined our Boston-based associates in Kensington, New Hampshire, for this special day.
We designed BusinessWorks so that our associates could experience our values through action learning: The day includes “high initiatives,” such as working in pairs to traverse a wire suspended across two trees, or a “water initiative,” where teams work together to build a raft to cross a lake. But participating in these challenge course events isn’t about learning to climb trees, balancing across high wires, or pushing yourself to your physical limits. It’s about stretching yourself to take risks—taking one more step than you thought you could. It’s about trying something new and stepping out of your comfort zone. It’s about asking for—and giving—help, and working closely with a partner and a team in a difficult situation, and trusting them to keep you safe.
Alan and I believe that we face similar challenges every day at Grand Circle, which ask us to do any and all of these things. We hope that the lessons each of our associates learn during their day at BusinessWorks will help them to overcome these challenges and continue to lead Grand Circle to success.
See photos of Grand Circle associates at BusinessWorks taking one more step than they thought they could, in our News & Views section. And to learn more about our Pinnacle Leadership program, where we teach these values and develop teams, visit the website.
Harriet Lewis