One of the coolest parts of my job at McKonly & Asbury is getting to meet great companies with solid family-owned leadership. In my continuing series of highlighting Organizations that “Get It”, I am going to be profiling Brubacher Excavating, Inc. - a Lancaster County based family business that for over 35 years has made its mark as a top provider of excavating, paving, site utilities, drilling, and blasting services for both public and private markets.
When Ben Brubacher first started Brubacher Excavating, an enduring commitment to quality workmanship was part of its foundation. Today, it is clear that their commitment still lives and grows. Brubacher Excavating is a company eager to progress, but committed to maintaining its tradition of outstanding service to the regional marketplace in which our families all live and work.
Continue reading "Brubacher Excavating" »
The Eighth Habit is a sequel to The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. The Seven Habits introduced the concepts used to become effective whereas The Eighth Habit continues the move from effectiveness to greatness, or to create personal significance and greatness.
The Eighth Habit is considered a new paradigm and Dr. Stephen Covey uses many examples and metaphors in explaining the concepts of The Eighth Habit. The theme of The Eighth Habit is to “find your voice, and inspire others to find theirs”. Covey begins the book with a look at the current work environment, indicating that many people are not happy with their jobs and are not satisfied with their contribution to their organizations. He indicates that this is the typical voice of the workforce. There is more pressure to do more with less, which has created the environment of doing things that are urgent, rather than important. He concludes that if everyone is not on the same page than everything becomes urgent and it takes up a significant amount of your energy to address urgent issues, while leaving the important issues unattended.
Continue reading "The Eighth Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness" »
One of my passions in life is working with family owned businesses. Family businesses enjoy a success rate far greater than other kinds of businesses. In the US, family businesses provide 65% of all wages. This group is the backbone of our country and will likely be the group that pulls us out of our current recession. This group is not without challenges, as I often hear the following:
- We can’t talk about the real issues
- We seem to have differing expectations about how to handle the business
- As the family and business grow, we’re facing more confusion and conflict
Every family business member feels differently toward the business: some hate it, some love it, to some it is a dream come true, to others it is a nightmare.
A couple of key points on managing family in a family business:
Continue reading "Family Business – Managing Family" »
As part of my continuing series of profiling “Servant Leaders” and also as an alumnus of Messiah College, I am proud to continue this series with a profile on Dr. Kim Phipps, President of Messiah College.
Dr. Phipps was named the eighth president of Messiah College in December 2004. Before accepting the position of president, she served as both academic dean and provost of Messiah College.
As President, she is committed to honoring the good work of her predecessors by continuing their legacy. These great individuals believed that Christian higher education was essential and should be transformational. They were willing to make personal sacrifices to ensure that Messiah’s mission was fulfilled. They possessed intellectual, personal, and spiritual maturity as evidenced in their teaching, scholarship, leadership, and personal examples of godly living. They sought to establish a college where intellectual rigor and spiritual understanding were harmoniously integrated, not separated. And this is exactly what Dr. Phipps is doing.
Continue reading "Learning about Servant Leadership from the President of Messiah College – Dr. Kim Phipps" »
.jpg)
.jpg){kind=logo}
