My story begins with Hurricane Milton, one of two tragic hurricanes to hit the west coast of Florida last year. Milton went right over Sarasota, where I live part of the year. It was a devastating storm; tree and plant debris still remain on the sides of many roads. Big root balls are still upended and not yet cleared, despite massive cleanup efforts. According to the municipal government, as of mid-December 2024, 445,766 tons of debris had been removed.

Fortunately for my wife and me, we were in Maryland at the time and we had only very minor damage. That’s partially because our house is equipped with hurricane-proof shutters. They do need to be installed and removed before and after a hurricane. As we have done on a few occasions before, we hired a contractor to do the job. Unfortunately, our previous contractor had retired, so we used one that our neighbors have used.

The experience with my hurricane shutters provided another lesson in the importance and value of treating your customers well and its effects on organizational and employee productivity.

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