Cold Open And Big Idea

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America market. I'm going to close the first creature. Number five, we did not discover the latest features and benefits of product that comes to market. Instead, we focused on inviting insight, not the industry, because people and ideas will be how America remains number one in manufacturing in the world.

The Final Cultural Belief

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Welcome to Eco Ask Why. I'm your host, Chris Grayer. I'm looking forward to spending some time with you today. And we've been really, over the last several months, working through our cultural beliefs at Electrical Equipment Company. And we're up to our final one. I'm so excited to work through this one with you. And hopefully you'll you'll enjoy it. And maybe you'll see for ways that you can apply this to your company, wherever you find yourself working. And it and the final belief is build trust. And this is all about empowering ideas in pursuit of personal best. And the whole series we have explored the cultural beliefs and that have ship really shaped eco to be the wonderful organization that it is today, from achieving results and delighting customers to straight talk. We talked about that for a while. And ownership, it's mine, and valuing everyone, and thinking it's one team. Each belief plays an important role in how we serve our customers and support one another. And yet there's one belief that that helps kind of bring everything all together, if you will. And without this one, uh it becomes very difficult to sustain the beliefs as a whole, and that is real trust. And for us, when we say build trust, it means I encourage and support everyone's contribution and new ideas in pursuit of their personal best. So that's that I just love how that that's laid out because trust is an interesting thing because we often really recognize its importance most clearly

When Trust Is Missing Or Present

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when it's missing. Just think about that. Everybody out here has experienced situations where we maybe we hesitate to share an idea or ask a question or admit where we need help because we're just uncertain on how someone might respond. When that happens, opportunities to improve can be lost or or erode and before the people even realize that that that existed. On the other hand, think about when trust is present, think about that for a second. People just behave differently. They do. They're more willing to speak up. They challenge existing processes, not in a rude way, but in a immediate way. New perspectives are brought to the table. And people take responsibility to find a better way forward to get because they understand that their contributions better. And that people around them genuinely want to see them succeed. And for EECO, building trust is about much more than developing just good work relationships. Okay. It's about creating an environment where people have their confidence to contribute and the freedom to grow and support the necessary uh items that we need for everyone to achieve their personal best. And after 100 years, I mean, just think about it, a hundred years of serving in an industry that never stops evolving. Trust. Trust is the belief that remains essential for our future.

Making It Safe To Ask Why

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Because what we have to do, we're trying to create an environment where ideas can grow. And one of the most important elements of where I'm building trust is you got to make people just feel comfortable, first of all, with sharing their ideas. And this is not easy. It sounds simple, but in practice, this is it requires it, it takes a lot of attention. There's a lot of effort needed from everyone across the organization, from the C-suite to every to every role, all the way from the warehouse to sales to to purchasing inventory, the whole deal. And consider, just think about this for a second. How many improvements begin with someone asking a straightforward question? And the question could just be, why do we do it that way? Was it is there a better way that we should consider? Well, what happened if we said, you know, I know that's how we've always done it, but is it it can we try an alternative? And those questions, when you start asking them in a in a genuine format, and with uh, you know, no ballast or anything in mind, you know, it's pretty cool how that can lead to meaningful changes in how we work and how we serve our customers and how we support each other. But we recognize eco, they only create value when the people feel confident enough to ask them in the first place. Sales up. But we recognize this because we're in a business where technical expertise, you have operational efficiency needs and customer relationships, they all tie together. And it would be easy to assume that the best ideas always come from those who the most expertise or in the highest positions. Okay. And while expertise certainly brings valuable perspective, don't get me wrong, it does not guarantee that someone has considered every possible angle. It's just impossible. Someone working in a warehouse may recognize an opportunity to improve on how orders are being processed, that someone in operations just they're not that they they they don't have that perspective. Or a customer service rep may notice a recurring frustration that can be eliminated with a simple little change in the warehouse. We never know. And newer employees, check this out, may question a process that existed for years simply because they're they're bringing a new lens to the situation. And each of these perspectives has value. They have value. But capturing that value requires a culture that encourages people to contribute rather than simply to follow established routines. Okay, this is where trust uh becomes really important because when employees believe their ideas or see genuine consideration, they're more likely to participate and to lean in. And they begin thinking beyond their immediate responsibilities and looking for ways for the entire team to grow and to be

Feedback Without Saying Yes

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more effective. And of course, we're not saying that every suggestion will be practical or every new idea will become an initiative. No, that's not what we're saying. It's not all about just agreeing with everything or abandoning processes that have helped make this what ECO is successful for years. But what we are saying is that we're gonna listen, we're gonna have an open mind and have honest feedback with each other and help people understand reasoning behind decisions. And sometimes the greatest encouragement we can provide is not immediately adopting someone's idea, but taking time to explain why a different approach may be necessary. And when you hit on that with respect, those conversations are the ones that strengthen relationships and create opportunities for

Mistakes, Safety, And Accountability

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learning. So it's really interesting because giving what we're trying to do is we're trying to give people room to learn and encouraging new ideas, it really means that we have to recognize that trying something different will occasionally it's just gonna lead to a mistake. And this can be a challenging aspect of building trust, particularly where we're in an industry where accuracy and safety and reliability are very important. And in ECO, our customers depend on us to provide solutions that really support what they're doing. And a mistake involving product selection or delivery or technical recommendations can create consequences that extend well beyond our organization. You know, and for that reason, accountability must remain an essential part of how we operate. But accountability and trust, consider this, they're not opposing ideas. In fact, they should strengthen one another. Because there's a significant difference between someone having an honest mistake and making making an honest mistake, rather, while trying to improve a process, and someone repeatedly ignoring established expectations. Because one creates an opportunity for coaching and improvement, while the other creates a different level of accountability. So if an employee becomes afraid that every misstep will result in criticism or embarrassment, they'll be calling out for it, eventually they're going to stop looking. They're just going to stop looking for better solutions together. And they become comfortable in doing only what's expected, the bare minimum, even if they see that there's opportunities to improve. And that's not the environment we want to create in eco. Instead, building trust means allowing people to learn through experience while maintaining the standards that our customers deserve. It means having conversations about what worked, what didn't work, and what can we do differently moving forward. And this requires our leadership team and the people with a lot of experience on our team to recognize that we may not have all the answers, but have a desire and a natural trait to listen, to admit mistakes and wrongdoings, and to have to consider that different perspectives, man. When you have that from a leadership now, that says a powerful message throughout any organization. And I have seen this firsthand. Because when people see those behaviors, demonstrate it, not just in a public setting, in a meeting, but one-on-one directly, man, that they understand that improvement is not limited to a particular title or department. It's something that everybody has a piece in. And this is how why we invest in each person, each person's personal best. Because while encouraging contributions and new ideas is an important part of trust, the second half of eco's of our cultural belief deserves just as much attention, supporting everyone everyone in pursuit of their personal

Personal Best And Real Mentorship

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best. So what makes that statement especially meaningful is that it recognizes personal growth as an individual journey. Think about this. And that's something that we embrace. And through our history, individuals have found opportunities to build careers that extend far beyond positions where they started. I can personally attest to this. Starting as a co-op engineer in college, in all the different roles I've had at Eco, they've all been opportunities to grow, to learn, to be able to expand my sphere of influence, my ability, running a podcast for relational equipment company, crying out loud. I mean, it's so many, it's so cool how opportunities open themselves up, but that's because of the trust that the company has in the team members. And when you give people these experiences, these experiences demonstrate something important about trust. Because sometimes people need someone else to recognize their potential before they can fully recognize it in themselves. I've seen this in one of my oldest mentors here in the Lesser Equipment Company. And I it just I think think about the impact of a manager who takes the time to teach someone a new skill set and provides opportunities to participate in more challenging work, not just the mundane stuff they don't want to do, but the challenging stuff, the stuff where you have to think through the box, or consider uh encouraging someone to consider a position that they might uh otherwise overlook. Like, have you, hey, have you considered thinking about this position? Because I think you'd be really good at it. And those actions communicate confidence in that individual's abilities and really create that foundation for future growth. And at the same time, same time, pursuing our personal best requires effort every day from all of us. No organization can do the work of personal development on behalf of its employees. No, we have to be willing to ask questions and pursue learning opportunities and accept feedback and take responsibility on our own, right? And so what ECO does is we operate, again, we're in an industry where that technology continues to advance at just such a fast pace from industrial automation to power distribution, connected systems, solutions, everything's evolving. And the knowledge required to serve our customers is constantly expanding. And that reality really pushes us to be continual learners. So technical training and manufacturing resources and programs to help our team members learn from experienced colleagues all contribute to building stronger teams. Yet some of the most valuable growth happens through those everyday interactions when one person shares the experience with another person and takes the time to explain that they may have initially have seen complicated, but they they they figure this out. Because building trust means being willing to share what we know rather than protecting knowledge as a form of individual advantage. You see what I'm saying? That that that that can be that can take so many organizations out. And we have really just worked hard at eco to have that not be part of culture. Because we when we invest in helping others become more capable, we strengthen everything. And we create an environment where people are encouraged to develop their own expertise and users contribute in meaningful ways. Because the personal best is not about expecting everyone to reach the same destination. No, it's about helping each person move forward from where they are today. That's it. And it's meeting them right now.

Trust Is Built By Actions

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So trust is built through consistent actions. One of the challenges with trust is that it just can't be declared. We can't just put it on a piece of paper, put it in the bathroom, or put it in the break room, and this is it. Now we can talk about its importance and we can include it in our communications and encourage people to embrace it, but none of those efforts matter unless our actions support the message. And trust develops through consistent behavior over time. So it's built when someone follows through on a commitment. Even when doing so requires extra effort. It grows when when team members feel comfortable raising concerns because they know that there's concerns when we take it seriously, not just shrugged off. It becomes stronger when someone says, you know what, I can help you with this without expecting any recognition whatsoever. Or when good things happen, and instead of the leader grabbing the attention in the spotlight, he defers it or she defers it to the team or the individuals who helped achieve that successful outcome. See, those moments may not seem particularly significant individually, but collectively, they influence how people experience the culture that we're trying to build through trust.

Trust Under Pressure And Stress

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And there are so many of parallels and connections between trust and other beliefs that we've talked about, like straight talk, becomes more effective when people trust that difficult conversations are tended to create improvements rather than sign blank. That's it. Think team becomes more natural when employees trust that their colleagues share a commitment to the organizational success. And taking like personal ownership, it's mine, becomes easier when people know that they have support necessary to resolve challenges rather than simply being led to just figure out everything on your own. So when you think about this, the challenge is remaining consistent, particularly when circumstances become difficult. That's the challenge. Because it's easy to demonstrate trust when projects are going smooth. Let's just be honest, right? And everything, customers are happy and everyone's agreeing on the next steps. The test comes when those deadlines get tight and opinions start differing, or something doesn't go according to plan. And how we respond in those moments reveals much more about our culture than what we say, even when everything is working perfectly. Because we're really

Trust With Customers And Partners

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trying to extend this beyond our organization. Because while building trust begins with how we treat one another, its impact extends directly to our customers in the manufacturers that we partner with. Because industry in industrial distribution, customers depend on more than product availability. That's it. It's not just about product availability and price. They are available on our launch on communication and be confident that the people supporting them understand the importance of what they're dealing with. Right? So if you have a if you're a manufacturer and you're dealing with an unexpected equipment failure, or if you have a machine builder that's trying to navigate complex automation uh automation challenges, the right solution often requires collaboration, creativity, and a willingness to explore different approaches. And those situations are where this empowered team with trust makes such a big difference. Because when our team members feel confident in contributing ideas and sharing this technical knowledge and collaborating across departments, they become better equipped to help customers solve these difficult problems. Rather than approaching every request as just a transaction, you know, you do this, I'm gonna get I'm gonna do this for you. We start focusing on understanding the underlying challenge and then identifying the method, the most optimal path for and building trust with customers this way means that we have to be willing to have conversations that may not automatically come out with a PO. Because sometimes the most valuable thing we can provide is just knowledge and education or an alternative perspective and an honest recommendation to help someone that we that we care about as a customer avoid a costly decision. And the same thing applies for our manufacturing partners. Strong relationships depend on open communication. They just do shared expectations, a commitment to helping one another improve. When both sides are willing to exchange ideas and work through challenges constructively, that's when those relationships become much more valuable than just any traditional supply arrangement. And we've seen this firsthand, trust me, I've been in many of these meetings where you you really are just you feel the partnership. The partnership. It makes a big difference. Because over time, these types of interactions they create confidence. They cannot be manufactured through marketing or or premises alone. No, customers and partners learn whether they can count on us by observing how we respond, how we communicate. And is it consistently showing up day in and day out that we we do what we say we're gonna

100 Years And The Next 100

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do? Okay, so so really we're as we think through like for eco, we're we're focusing on building trust and we just celebrate 100 years. Hey, we're moving forward. Because as we as we celebrate a century of serving the industrial marketplace, there is an opportunity to reflect on more than just the products that we've distributed or technologies we supported or the milestones we've achieved. We can also consider the people whose ideas, commitment, and willingness to grow have helped make those accomplishments possible. The technology that defined our industry 100 years ago, just think about that. It looks way different than where we're at today, right? And there's little doubt, if you think that fast forward 100 years, that's gonna be a lot of challenges that are just impossible for us to imagine right now. Yet our ability to adapt will continue to depend on the people who make up an electrical equipment company and the environment that we create for them to succeed. That is why build trust serves as such a fitting conclusion for our cultural beliefs. I mean, just think about it. They all tie together. We're on achieve results, that commitment for performance, delighting customers, focused on where people serve, the customers and the people that we serve rather. Straight talk, that honest communication, its mind reminds us to take responsibility for our actions, value everyone reinforces the importance of recognizing each person's contribution. And think team challenges us to work towards share success. Build trust breaks it together by creating confidence and support necessary to put everything into practice. So as we look at the future, each one of us has an opportunity to contribute to that culture. I really hope that we do. I hope when we can maintain listening more intentionally, encouraging people to develop their skills and sharing ideas. That this the idea that gets shared could be the next idea that changes the way that we we do work for years to come and constantly focus on helping each other discover capabilities that they may not even see it themselves. These actions, they may seem small, but they shape how people experience eco and ultimately influence what we can accomplish together. Because if we think about our company, we have an identity of ideas, power, and performance. There's something especially fitting about a cultural belief that encourages everyone to contribute their ideas and pursuit, and pursue their personal best. Because after all, ideas only become powerful when people are willing to share them. And performance continues to improve when those people are supporting, when they're challenged, when they're trusted to grow. So that's it. That's how we build trust at an electrical equipment company. That's how we continue to build one eco, and that's how we prepare for opportunities to lie hit. So we really hope you've enjoyed these. Next month, we're gonna do something special. We're gonna bring them all together, and hopefully it'll be a fun little episode for you guys that enjoy listening to Eco Ask Why. So, really, just again, the culture believes a hundred years, big celebration, incredible milestone for any company. But again, I've been here 20, let's see, 25 years. Yeah. So it's uh a quarter of the existence of the company I've been here. And look, I'm a I'm a I'm a newbie compared to some of the people who have been with Eco. It just speaks to our the tenure, speaks to the culture, to the leadership. Uh, you know, I'm just telling you how it is from from I I can't express what eco has meant to me and to my family, and and it's just an honor to be able to share these beliefs. And and uh we know that hopefully uh we're definitely encouraged for for how the company is moving forward, and it's gonna be fun to see what happens next. So thanks for listening.

Review, Website, And Closing

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If you don't mind, give us a regular review. Head over to ecoonline.com. If you're one of our if you're listening to us and you're in our service area, we'd love for you to get set up an online account, get plugged in with that. We have lots and lots of podcasts. If you ever go back to the podcast feed, you'll see podcasts where I talk about how to do that, what what's important there. We'll have links in the show notes as well for you can do that and get started with this. Or maybe you want to come visit one of our branches. We love, love, love to have customers coming to our branches and spend time with us. So just reach out to us. So you you get go to our website, ecoholline.com. You'll see your contact for who's your local representative and things like that. And hopefully we'll hear from you when we go from there. Other than that, we'll see you next time. Thanks for hanging out today. Hope you have a wonderful day. And remember to be at it. Thank you for listening to Eco Squad. Let's go for it. Let's go quick.