Go Wisely

Hey Team. All right, so here we are again. William Shakespeare said, “Go wisely and slowly. Those who rush stumble and fall.” As I’m getting older, I’m recognizing that is a pretty wise statement. I’ve made some mistakes. I used to think that you need to just get it done, just get out there, just get working, just do it. Just do it, just do it, just go, go, go, go, go. And I made some progress. I’ll be honest, and there’s something to having tenacity and the spirit of “go” and all those kinds of things.

But there are times in your life that you can burn out. You can burn relationships, you can hurt others because you’re going too fast. You can leave others behind and find yourself pulling a lot more weight than you should, and harm yourself. So, as I’m getting older—maybe I’m getting wiser—I’m learning.

I’ve not had any sunburns this summer at all because I’m learning to, before I go out in the sun, wear a hat. I’m learning to put on sunscreen. I’ve been very diligent in not rushing to just go do, do, do. Even if I’m going to mow the lawn for 15 minutes, take care of stuff outside, trim roses, or whatever, I’m wearing sunscreen and putting on a hat. I’m being diligent, slowing down, and being wise about the direction I’m moving, even when it’s just the small little things in my life.

Sometimes it feels like the pace is slower in some respects. I’ve always been a fast-paced kind of guy, but you get more traction, you can move more, carry more, and do more when you plan for the journey in an appropriate way. It’s something that I’m learning again in my older years. Shakespeare’s correct. Go wisely, go slowly. Don’t rush because you don’t want to stumble and fall. Those are just wise words for us today. They are valuable because nothing less will do.

Part of being valuable is making sure that you’ve got the direction right, the course right, that you’ve got all the people on board. They understand where they’re going and what they’re doing, that they have good processes and good post orders. We’ve got Codie right now writing processes and doing things at the company level. She’s amazing. Her brain—I don’t know how she gets that much stuff done and focused. She’s just a dynamo.

The same thing is happening in each and every one of our departments. Sonja is doing a freaking amazing job at processing and delivering good, insightful instruction to her team. I’m seeing that resonate throughout the ranks. It’s amazing. The things that Jimmy and Windee and everybody are doing—everyone is really gelling together in such a way because they’re being wise about the direction they’re moving and how they’re doing it. They’re making sure that they’re getting other people on board, writing down the steps, learning the steps, and delivering that message. It’s cascading downward throughout the ranks of everybody at Northwest Enforcement, and it’s getting there more and more.

If you’re new here and you’re looking at this and thinking, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Chad.” You will, pay attention. People are going to give you more and more information. It flows all the way down, even from your first training days. The information you’re getting is something that used to not ever happen years ago. Now you’re being given information, you have post orders, and you have information on how and why we do things the way we do. It’s getting better every day. It’s not perfect. We’re still making progress, still writing it as we’re doing it. It’s slow, but it’s happening, and that’s the beauty of doing this.

From me to all of our leaders and our team members here who are doing it every day—God bless you. Thank you so much for everything that you do. I know our clients and community appreciate everything that you do because we hear it from them on a pretty regular basis, and that’s an awesome thing. Remember, let’s keep being valuable because nothing less will do. I’ll see you guys next week. Bye! See you.