Sonja is Invested

Hey team. So here we are again. Fall is in the air, hence the picture in the background. For this Monday Message, I wanted to wrap it around a person again, and that person would be Sonja Kuhn. Sonja is our Director of Operations, and she oversees quite a bit of a team and a group of individuals. Our core value today that we’re going to focus on is investment – own it. Like never before, I have seen somebody like Sonja who is so invested and gives so much of herself, sometimes to her own pain in the process, to ensure that the team succeeds and to put people above her paycheck. She is the definition of invested.

I have seen her in recent months work almost every Saturday and take on a shift so that other leaders don’t have to work, and to ensure that the team’s success happens. I’ve seen her work tirelessly, and, as most of you know, salary means you get to work as much as you want. Sometimes in that situation, Sonja has worked as much as she wanted, and then probably some that she didn’t want. She takes phone calls after hours; she does an awful lot.

And she shows that investment in such an amazing way that she puts people first, her team first, she gives to her team first, she builds to see that her team succeeds, and overall the company succeeds. She gives of herself. Even as I say these things, I know that most people here already recognize everything I’m saying and know it to be true. Because she is invested.

She knows that the more investment she has, there’s more reward for everybody. And she doesn’t do it for her own personal paycheck gain. She does it because she cares deeply within her soul and within her heart for everybody else who works here. The most important thing I think I have noticed in Sonja’s giving, caring, sharing, and being self-sacrificing is that I am watching her team start to sacrifice. I’m watching them grow; I’m watching them give; I’m watching them take on extra for others. They’re building to the team’s success; they’re investing, and they are showing their ownership. As a leader does those things like Sonja has done, the people that follow her do so in great numbers. I’m seeing that in those who follow after doing the things that we’ve already seen Sonja do.

It is that leadership and that investment of Sonja that has tripled down and trickled down and rippled through the entire company in such an amazing way. So today’s core value for Monday’s Message is investment. We can all take from Sonja’s investment and learn from it, grow from it, and build from it great things. Sonja, thank you so much for showing that investment and being a part of this great team. Such an integral part of what we do and for showing the way to those that follow you because I’m seeing them grow and step up and take ownership and investment in a new way like I’ve never seen before from anybody before they got into this position.

So thank you for that leadership and that growth. All right, God bless the rest of you. I am so thankful for all of you and the hard work that you continue to do. So get out there, be valuable because nothing less will do, and I will see you next week.