“E very man’s ability may be strengthened or increased by culture.”

     — John Abbot

As a child my family was very tight knit. My parents are still married to this day and I grew up with three siblings; two older brothers and a younger sister. We were incredibly close. My parents spent most of their day working. When my mom wasn’t working, she was busy taking care of us and keeping the house in order. To this day I don’t know how she kept such a clean house with four children.

Looking back, the values of our family were engrained early. Work hard, take care of what needs to get done, follow your dreams and family comes first. These values created a culture that served me well as an adolescent and continues to serve me as an adult.

As my siblings and I grew up and started families of our own, I noticed how each of us began to create our own unique cultures in our new families. Each of our cultures embodied some of the same values we were raised with and some that were new and different. However, it was clear that each of us had our own unique culture, regardless of whether it was crafted intentionally or unintentionally.

That’s the thing with culture. Whether it’s intentional or unintentional, it happens either way. As a baseball player I was on my fair share of teams. Some of my teams had an incredible inspiring cultures and others were toxic. I knew right away how well my team would perform based on how well we got along and how good our coaches were at cultivating a positive, winning culture. Culture is King and it should never be overlooked.

One of the many things that motivated me to start my own business was this notion that I could create an environment that would empower people to be their best. I’ve always been very selective with the employees I’ve hired at Paradigm because I know each one of them will have a huge impact on our culture. If I choose poorly it will have a negative impact on the business. If I choose wisely then the culture and the success of Paradigm will thrive. Fortunately for me, and all of you, I think we’ve done a pretty good job hiring the right people at Paradigm.

This all came into focus last October. For my birthday Zach Egan spearheaded a birthday celebration for me that left me feeling surprised, blessed and humbled all at the same time. Surprised because I had no idea he and the team were doing any of it. Blessed to have him and the rest of my team in my life. Humbled because he acted on his own. He chose to do something for me that had an impact not only on me but the on the culture as a whole at Paradigm. That meant more to me than anything else. On Halloween last year our entire staff decided to dress up as characters from the movie Dodgeball. That day may have been one of my favorite in the 5 ½ years we’ve been in business.

By definition, culture is the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively. I believe that when you have the right people in place, the success, the experience, and the joy compounds.  Every employee we’ve had at Paradigm has in some way shaped our culture and added to this joy.

In his book Culture Code, author Daniel Coyle examines the dynamics of groups, large and small, formal and informal, to help the reader understand how great teams work and what you can do to improve your relationships wherever you collaborate with others. No matter the size of your group or your goal, this book teaches the principles of cultural chemistry that transform individuals into teams that can accomplish amazing things together.

Since I know that culture plays an important role in the success of my business, I try to be intentional with every decision I make and I hope you know that in addition to my vision and our awesome staff each of you play a huge part in creating and embodying the positive uplifting culture we strive for. I’m grateful for each and everyone of you, thank you for being such an integral and awesome part of our tribe!