January is always an interesting month. It’s the month named for Janus, the Roman god with two faces, looking forward and backward. He’s also the god of beginnings and transitions, doors and gates. So it’s fitting that Sabal Group was launched on January 17, 2019. Reflection brings perspective, so looking back at how Sabal Group began, and how we’ve gotten to where we are today, reminds me of key lessons I’ve learned along the way.
A Leap of Faith
In 2019, I took a leap of faith. Stepping away from the known to lead a brand new company isn’t for the faint of heart. Over the course of 12 months, I relearned lessons we all first encountered as youngsters: the importance of trust, integrity and relationships. 2019 taught me the value of each of these, which is why I believe we’ve beaten the odds as a small business.
Trust Takes Two
No matter how I think about what has made Sabal Group successful, I always come back to the fact that we’ve benefited from key relationships. What has made those relationships successful? It all comes down to trust. Trust has been absolutely central to our success. But knowing who to trust is always difficult.
You can’t simply ask people to trust you. You have to do the work. More importantly, trust is a two-way street. Even as I sought out partners I could trust, agencies and communities were seeking a data supplier they could trust. None of us could simply expect trust between us to exist. It takes work. And sometimes, it never happens.
There’s no magic formula to establishing trust because it has to be earned. In 2019, the relationships I valued most were based on integrity. Personal honesty, being accountable, adhering to a code of ethics and transparency in business practices are the hallmarks of those I came to trust. Those are also the same values that define Sabal Group.
Better Together
Like many things in life, the payoff of doing difficult things is usually sweeter. Spinning up a new company, I kept relearning how much I needed the right people in the right positions in order to succeed. Each time that happened, the work got easier and better. And looking back, the right people have become trusted relationships because of their integrity.
Life is too short to work with people who can’t be trusted. I strive to be worthy of your trust as we build a strong relationship based on mutual integrity. If you’d like to know more about how Sabal Group and I work, I hope you’ll reach out to me. Because we can all use more trusted people in our personal and professional lives.
