I was at the Race for the Cure Saturday morning at 8am. One of our portfolio companies was a sponsor and I went just to support them. They had about 30 employees out there - with half of them running and the other half walking. Overall, there were 18,000 participants which blew me away.
First of all, I am thrilled to see companies like ours find ways like this to raise money and give back to important charities. But what really impressed me that morning was our company's style of running.
When I looked around I saw a few companies where all their runners were spread out. They started at different times - some ran fast and others were slower so they all crossed the finished line at different times. And individually they seemed more concerned with personal performance.
Employees at our portfolio company on the other hand, ran as a team the entire time. They had people from their executive team, finance/accounting, HR, R&D, sales and support participate. And many of them have different running abilities - some that have been training for marathons and some that may be just comfortable with a 5k. I know most of the participants very well and they are quite competitive, but they all started together and finished together running at a slower, but steady pace the entire time - so that everyone could be included.
I have been thinking a lot about what I saw yesterday and realized this is exactly what I see inside their company. Their morale is incredibly high and they are focused and "run" together as a team everyday.
Anyway, it is just an interesting connection and observation. I guess it shouldn't be much of a surprise seeing something like their style in the office translate into how they conduct themselves out of the office.
With all the companies we speak with every week, I started thinking about how they perform. Do they act as individuals or as a focused team?
What do you think your company would do?
