IT TAKES A TEAM!
June 1, 2018
I need to take a little time to brag on our KING AEROSPACE team. The team consists of people all over the world supporting corporate, government and military aircraft who are passionate about making a positive difference in the lives of others. Their passion and performance is very noticeable. This is not just my opinion — those that we serve often tell me about the “little things” as well as the “big things” that KA team members do for customers and I read about them in written performance reviews. Our team does the right things for the right reasons with the right attitudes.
Not everyone wants to work at the KA companies and not everyone hired by the KA companies works out. I often say, “not everyone makes the Navy Seals or Special Operations Teams for a reason.” We have kissed a lot of frogs over the past 25 years. However, dreams do come true. The company I started with $400 in a bedroom in my home in Addison, Texas is recognized around the world and continues to grow. Our secret sauce is our people; our magic dust is their passion, dedication and relentless warrior spirit. Our team members take ownership and have pride in their performance and the team’s successes and strive on a daily basis to always remain focused on our mission. Just like all great teams, each member must be able to perform his or her role to facilitate a successful outcome for the team. When team members fail to perform or contribute, the team moves forward, filling the gaps that impact the team’s performance. And like all great teams, there is never an attitude of complacency. Great teams maintain an environment of conscious paranoia to improve every single day.
Within our team there are what I would call multiple “special teams.” These special teams are our customers, vendors and those we encounter along the way while we provide services to a cause greater than self.
We work hard for all our customers and find it very rewarding when customers treat us like partners or members of their own team. We select vendors, suppliers and subcontractors that share in our mission of making a positive difference and we don’t take them for granted. Many of them have told me that they have never been treated as a valued partner, which is the way the KA companies treat them. We respect them and realize they play a major role in our ability to perform.
Anyone can get a hangar, buy parts and turn wrenches but not just anyone is willing to meet our standards. Heroes don’t do what they do because of money and that is true of our unsung KA heroes. They have purpose and it shows in their performance. I have always said that our goal is to touch lives and we just happen to work on aircraft. Our roots go back to my mentors and dear friends who started Southwest Airlines.
Over the years I have witnessed firms hire our team members in an attempt to import some of our magic dust. The reality is that without an adequate concentration of KING KULTURE (magic dust) and a committed owner, their desired results have not been realized.
I am honored and blessed to be a small part of the KA team. I am thankful for customers who consider us as comrades in their mission. I am thankful for the customers who tell us, in the spirit of growing together, what we can do or need to do to become better. I am so blessed to be a part of something special. God bless the entire KA team. May we never lose our Servant Leadership focus!
As Dizzy Dean, the once famous baseball player and announcer used to say, “It ain’t bragging if you can do it.”
Written by KING AEROSPACE Founder, Jerry Allan King-Echevarria.