Early in my career, one of my professional mentors imparted a piece of wisdom: when you take care of your employees, they take care of your customers. It’s simple, but it communicates a powerful message. You should care for people because it’s the right thing to do, but it also happens to be good for business.
Telligent’s commitment to customers is matched only by our dedication to community service – a people-first philosophy that defines our brand promise. We dedicate time to our local communities because it’s the right thing to do, because it strengthens our corporate culture, and because of the positive impact community service has – not just on the community – but also on the individuals providing service. On Tuesday, we paid tribute to the victims of September 11th by uniting in service and taking part in Freedom Day 2012.
Freedom Day is an annual day of service hosted by Entrepreneurs for North Texas (EFNT). Since 2002, EFNT has invited corporate citizens to come together for an amazing day of community service as a meaningful way to honor the lives that were tragically lost and changed on September 11, 2001. For this year’s community service project, Dallas-area Telligenti volunteered to repaint a local middle school, Sarah Zumwalt, located in south Dallas.
Getting out there and doing community service is so significant and it allows us to step away from our day-to-day activities and give back to those who need our help the most. From the joy of bringing smiles to the face of children; to the overwhelming gratitude expressed from an afternoon spent with nursing home residents; to helping a high school student compete in his first debate tournament, I’ve heard first-hand from employees the incredible effect of community service. That’s what our people-first philosophy is all about. As a company, we believe that bringing people together in service builds a lasting and encouraging legacy that sparks a spirit of unity in the workplace and also in the community.
I want to express my sincere thanks to EFNT for making Freedom Day 2012 possible. And, thank you to all of the Dallas-area employees who participated in Freedom Day by making Sarah Zumwalt Middle School a little brighter for hundreds of children. I hope that the No-Limit Lions are enjoying their school’s new look!