Marek Dallas Division President John Hinson wrote the following President’s Message for AWCI's Construction Dimensions magazine. Hinson is the 2015-2016 President of AWCI.
Brothers John, Bill (the AWCI’s president in 1984) and Ralph Marek founded Marek Brothers Company in 1938. While John and Bill have passed on to be with our Lord, Ralph, 90, is still with us. At a recent managers’ meeting we were honored when Ralph stopped in to say hello and express his gratitude for all of the team’s hard work at Marek.
Ralph is a special man, and it was an inspiring moment. He remembers the smallest details about each one of us. He asks about our wives, our kids, our progress and concerns. He makes each one of us feel important to him.
Do you make people feel important? Do you make it easy for people to work with you? When you express your ideas, do you do it in a respectful way?
I take great pleasure in sharing a few values that the Marek family has passed along in my 31 years of working for the company. When you listen with an open mind to other peoples’ needs, ideas and passions, they will remember how you made them feel important. When you help them complete a task or volunteer to get a chore done, they will remember that you helped them succeed. When you are the first person to the job and the last to leave, they will see that you have the passion and dedication to succeed—everyone wants to be on a winning team. Remember, you are only as good as the people you work with.
If you focus on others, what you get in return is amazing. You earn respect. It really is all about them and not all about you.
And, most importantly, when you’re speaking with someone, give them your undivided attention. Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who has that long, lost (inattentive) look, a look that leaves you feeling like they did not care about what you said? Don’t be that person. Look them in the eye and make them feel as if you’re the only two people in the world. It really works with spouses too.