Culture & Challenge: Importance of Tribe

It's Marathon Monday. Anyone who has ever run a race understands what that equals - Patriot's Day in Boston, Massachusetts.  The annual running of the Boston Marathon, 26.2 miles through historic Hopkinton all the way to magical Boylston street & that painted finish line.

My 2013 story, if you know me, was lined in challenge - just 10 yards away from the finish line when the first bomb detonated.  My daughters & husband were in the library stands just to my right.  I'll save you from the stories of that day - if you watched the news, you saw my pigtails crossing the finish with the other last five timed & scored runners - over, and over, and over again.  Burned into my memory for a multitude of reasons...what I could have done to help, what happened & tragedy for many families, the guilt of being physically unharmed, the reality of the aftermath...

Four years later, I'm left with the lessons of that day and when I returned to run it again in 2014 - facing a lot of personal & mental demons.  I do a lot of training & consulting on culture & hiring these days, and the biggest thing that resonates with me (and my passion points in speaking) are 1) personal mission statements and 2) tribe culture.  I saw it firsthand in 2013 on one of the scariest days of my life.

First, I wasn't working at D.R. Horton at the time. I was consulting in PR & marketing, as well as running my coaching business as a Duke-certified Integrative Health Coach. My "tribe" was still within the DRH family - on Facebook, LinkedIn, emails & texts...and the first to ask if I was okay (once we had cell service?)  That same tribe.  A slew of texts, phone calls, emails, Facebook messenger messages from people I hadn't spoken with in months to a few years.  The most important one was my mentor, Coastal Carolina Division President Brian Gardner.  Not only did he ask if the family was safe - he was also undeterred in getting me to keep an appointment with him that next week to come & see his operation across the South Carolina coast.

Fast forward two months, & I was back on board.  As BG said, "there is always a family here. And it's time for you to get back on the horse."  One part our company's culture (never giving up, failing forward, taking action), one part humanity of that tribe surrounding one of its own in a challenge.  Opportunity abounds in our organization, and we continually care about people first - my story is a testimony.

When I went back to run Boston in 2014, I wore the Emerald Homes shirt you see in the picture in near-freezing start line temps (given to a teenager along the course as I warmed up!) and the D.R. Horton visor you see.  For a full year, I had that tribe lifting me up - supporting my training to return, helping me through a variety of PTSD symptoms, and "getting me back on the horse" in work, critical projects & vision/mission/purpose. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done...but I also got a bunch of "way to get after it" or "way to get back on the horse" texts afterwards from the tribe.

These days, I advocate for anyone within the organization who is "on the deal" (one of our oldest Hortonisms - be part of the mission.) If you want to be successful, you have to be willing to be transparent, authentic, and have crucial conversations about where we are, who we are and where we are going.  I wouldn't be anywhere if I hadn't had that tribe continually pushing me through in 2013 to now at D.R. Horton.

So my challenge to you, this Patriot's Day, is this - do you have a strong tribe who would "get you back on the horse" if you need it?  Are you firmly cemented in the vision of your organization?  Look to the summit & find it - it's where your best work will emerge! Happy Marathon Monday! #WeBuildPeople2