Good morning everyone, it’s Monday. A little over 14 years ago I worked as a contract manager at the then Aegon Tower in downtown Louisville, KY. Aegon is a beautiful, class A, office tower with 35 leasable floors; managed by Hines Interests in Houston. It is an elegant building with extremely high expectations. Extremely high expectations! The man who I worked for was property manager; Chris Cieminski. Chris is an intelligent, brilliant leader who brought out the best in those around him. I really enjoyed working with him and his staff even though keeping up with the contract demands were relentless. I was hired for the job because the $100 million dollar building had become lackluster. In my first few months as manager I had either retrained or repositioned the entire staff. Unfortunately, some staff didn’t make the transition. The building was cleaned, carpeted, painted and polished, from the top of the 550 foot, Romanesque dome, to the epoxy-painted floor of plant operations center in the lower level basement. Every window was cleaned inside and out (all 35 floors), thousands of lightbulbs were replaced, granite floors polished and the elevators were refitted with stainless steel walls. I even had the half-acre plaza lawn mowed in mid-December. I virtually had every tool at my disposal to make Aegon shine bright again, including a cost-plus contract. Galatians 6:9 encourages us to “not become weary (lose heart) in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest (great reward) if we do not give up.” At least once a week I would sit in Chris’ office and he would ask me the same question; “How goes the battle?” Chris knew the job was an uphill battle and that I was exhausted and wearing thin. Often I would go home after a fourteen hour day and send out my resume to other property firms. I was wanting out. “Seriously? This was just a building, not brain surgery…,” I mused. I was using my leadership and organizational skills to maximum capacity. I was also learning and developing new skills, to which would be used to my great benefit down the road, also in a high pressure environment, but with much greater stakes; people! Looking back, I am grateful I stayed in the “battle.” Just before Christmas I completed the assignment. We toured the building and I received glowing remarks. I remember standing in the lobby of the pristine building feeling fulfilled, satisfied and empowered. I still have the letter of commendation from Chris, congratulating me on a job well done. There was a reward down the road for me staying in the battle, not growing weary or giving up and throwing in the towel. There were things being pressed and burned into me that I couldn’t see at the time. I am a firm believer in that every life experience is prep work for something down the road. Whatever battle you are in today, stay in it. Keep pushing ahead, even when set backs come. The hurdles get higher, but you’ll be stronger for the task. Raising kids, working through relational struggles, digging out of debt or finishing a project will have it’s rewards in due time. Praying you’re strong for the battle today. Have a great week!
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 10:19:40 +0000
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