We have the best people…beyond faith or wonder…
It is concrete and tangible…
We have the best people. It rolls off my tongue. I feel it bind me to the ground when I walk into any new situation where I need to differentiate my company from another’s. It is beyond faith or wonder or hope; it is as concrete and tangible for me as the lines on my hand or the breath in my lungs. It is as reliable, as life defining, as readily available. Others say it—they pitch it and play it like a card shark at a poker game, but ours is real…and now I have proof.
On a Wednesday back in May Design New England Magazine bestowed upon Finley Perry the Mentor of the Year award amidst the sweet elegance of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. A rare warm evening last spring—the wisteria draping across the garden columns, the favored hum of industry friends greeting one another and inquiring after the heartiness of business, the sipping and nibbling of delectable bits and bites being passed through the standing crowd. And then the hush as we gathered in the auditorium—a luscious moment of gratitude. Finley, the founder of F.H. Perry Builder, Finley the politician, the teacher, the “eye,” the guide, the grantor, the leader, the one to follow. Finley the humble, the deep, the messy, the hopeful, the good guy, the bad guy, the doer of the right thing…the one, that night. My Dad. The one who encouraged me and Bill and built a platform with sturdy trusses. He gathered us, Bill and me, Rusty, Billy, Jim, Jon-Mark, John Fay, and Gregory and he taught us to be like him in all the ways that it matters. Now we teach the rest of the team.
So now, we lead with him in us. I mean I did already since he’s been teaching before I could walk and talk, but now, we meet every other week as a whole firm and learn how to think about the world and the people in it. We share our financials openly, we collaborate and support as a community, we remember that value is only in the excellence of what we deliver time and time again. We know ourselves and our clients. We know how to support our trade partners to deliver at their best. We seek knowledge and empowerment, grace and wisdom. And I know we do it because we had the best teacher. And I know he was the best teacher because he got an award that says it’s so. And if he was the best teacher then it’s also true that we have the best people.
You can celebrate with us and read the full article in Design New England.
Warm regards,
Allison
photos by Matt Kalinowski and Al Mallette
