Not Your Father's Company Picnic

"I would like to thank you for showing us that management indeed cares about all the employees and how hard work and dedication is truly the key to a successful organization. It was a wonderful opportunity for FSO employees in the same region to get to know each other and recognize the diversity."

Good Morning Folks,

While most companies in this economy are cutting out or cutting back and having pot luck summer supper get togethers in their parking lots, while only top executives and sales stars jet off to golf outings in fancy resorts, FSO (where business never is conducted as usual) believes that our people make the difference. Therefore there is nothing more important than recognizing their achievements and celebrating our success as a family.

So for our second half kick-off and (re)IMAGINATION of the summer picnic as usual, we took to sea, chartering a cruise for a sunset toast around the isle of Manhattan. And we took the whole gang aboard. This was a great expression of gratitute for our site leaders! :) We rocked the boat which is a great metaphor for what we do every day in the field. When was the last time you treated your employees like this?

Wrote one of many employees to me in a post-event thank you, "I would like to thank you for hosting such a wonderful event. It was a wonderful opportunity for FSO employees in the same region to get to know each other and recognize the diversity that the company offers. I would especially like to thank Christine for showing us that management indeed cares about all the employees how hard work and dedication is truly the key to a successful organization."

Said another, "First I would like to thank you for the wonderful boat cruise and I had a great time. I also want to say thank you for allowing me to represent FSO under your leadership. I'm amazed watching the growth of this company and the environment that's created for us makes me feel blessed. It's been a little over a year since joining FSO and I was with Deloitte at the time. Deloitte is a great company and people had asked me why would you leave a company like Deloitte and my response was I missed the passion and energy working with the both of you prior with the other company. I just want to say I'm proud to work for FSO and happy with the training and leadership from Don Adams & Neal Michael. Thanks for everything and I will continue to inspire my team and develop."

So people also ask me what ever in the world brought you out of retirement to deal with the stress of building a business especially in these times? And the answer is that I live in service to others. My approach to employee care and inclusion will be my leadership legacy.

I'm just a kid from Queens, New York – the product of a broken family and the school of hard knocks. I had no expectations of anything being handed to me; I stood to inherit nothing from my parents. Everything I earned came from working “100 jobs at once” – parking cars, serving Baskin Robbins, and pursuing my own future with a relentless passion that drives me today. I’ve built it all from scratch, passion, belief and drive with people who share those traits and want to bring success to life.

My legacy is to pay it forward so people who show up with FIRE>>SKIP>> and TWINKLE... can have the same opportunities I had against all odds, coming from challenging circumstances. It's nights like these, emails like those above, that provide a greater sense of purpose and fulfillment that no amount of money can buy. To see others grow and prosper is the greatest of gifts I can give myself.

I tell my managers: "Leadership is teaching. Leadership is caring. Leadership is giving. Your employees are great. Use them. Teach them. Lead them. Love them. We don't have to do it alone. Show them the love all day every day. They want us to lead them to greatness. Never can be too busy too not have time to think about them and find new talent. Think of all the great people we or I have found this year and beyond. Where would we be without them.Maybe they have friends we can hire hire. Make your leadership skills come alive."

I could go on and on, but the pictures of our event that follow tell a story more powerful than even ten thousand words could. The sky's not the limit because the universe is infinite… but because YOU keep raising the bar!!! (As the saying goes "don't tell me the sky's the limits when there are already footsteps on the moon!" That's the FSO way of thinking. lol)

FSO USA!

Welcome to the FSO Summer Launch

Celebrating as we pass Statue of Liberty

Strike  pose!

Time to enjoy each other's company

Everyone traveled from afar to join the party

Mitch & his ladies (Crystal, Mitch, Denise and Hope)

Smile and laughter all around

See even more photographs on our Facebook page.

I've seen other workers out there – overlooked, ignored, forgotten in the decades-long transformation of Corporate American. They’re the hourly workers who work in traditional, corporate-run catacomb-like mailrooms of the workplace. Their tasks are vital to business, yet their faces are a blur to patrons and higher-ups.

Once upon a time, any job could be the launch pad for a savvy, bright worker’s rise through the ranks. No longer. Today, these workers are anonymous to many, and often fated to stay that way. 

I will always be that guy in the space who cares enough to take care of the hourly employee from the middle manager down. And that's why our company meeting will never be your father's tired old company picnic.

It was great seeing everyone in NYC! What an incredible and memorable sail! FSO rocked the boat and now we head into the field to rock the competition. 

Thanks to our employees for all you do for us, and to our clients for all you award us the privilege of doing for you.

Have a GREAT day as I look forward to seeing all of you soon.

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

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"It is never too late to be what you might have been." –George Eliot
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