| Heather McCune
|
It is odd how the death of someone you’ve never met can have a profound personal impact.
One of my heroes died recently. I’d never met Katharine Graham, publisher of The Washington Post. I’ve read a lot about her. I was a regular reader of her newspaper. Her autobiography, Personal History, is the only book permanently in the ever-changing pile on my nightstand.
What I learned from Katharine Graham is what it takes to be a hero. The lessons her life and her career offer to me are few and relatively simple on the surface, but in day-to-day living, so hard to do well:
What set Katharine Graham apart and made her my hero is that every day — no matter what the odds or obstacles — she tried her best to do her best with grace, humor and an unwavering belief that quality is the only foundation for any business seeking to sustain success.
Each year the National Housing Quality Awards program affords all of us an opportunity to meet new heroes. The 2002 winners profiled here are no exceptions. There are many lessons to be learned from Gold winners Shea Homes Colorado and Don Simon Homes, and their best practices do indeed set industry benchmarks for continuous improvement, trade partnering, customer satisfaction, employee selection and compensation, and construction quality, to name just a few.
Neither Bert Selva, president of Shea Homes Colorado, nor David Simon, president of Don Simon Homes, will like that he has been singled out for mention here. The accomplishments of each organization result from the dedicated team of associates that get things done every day, each would insist. But what merits individual recognition for these two leaders — these two heroes — is that like Katharine Graham, both know that with quality as the foundation in their companies, as is will never be good enough. Selva and Simon demonstrate in word and deed the knowledge that it is up to them to sustain the momentum to make this daily journey less like work and more like fun, so that there is a sense of purpose and a feeling of pride for all committed to setting a quality standard every time.
Advertisement
Related Stories
Hamlet Homes' Mike Brodsky on Finding Successors and Letting Go
A transition that involved a national executive search, an employee buyout, and Builder 20 group mentorship to save the deal
Time-Machine Lessons
We ask custom builders: If you could redo your first house or revisit the first years of running your business, what would you do differently?
Back Story: Green Gables Opens Up Every Aspect of its Design/Build Process to Clients
"You never want to get to the next phase and realize somebody's not happy."
