Rah, rah, ree - Way to go team!

Kerri Guyton

There are many things that I love about our team at Obsidian. First of all, they are some of the smartest individuals I know. I’m highly confident in our ability to really rock it for all of our clients. Our team is also made up of some of the hardest working professionals in the business; you have to be in order to make it on our team. We each have a roster of clients for whom we are always accomplishing big things for; it’s why we are able to retain our clients year after year. However, one of my favorite things about our Obsidian team is the team cheerleading that goes on. 

If anyone were to tap into our emails at any point during the day, they would be sure to find at least one email chain cheering a team member on for something – like a great story landed, a new client brought on, a great job helping another team member on a project, etc. Sometimes, these are started at the top with management announcing an accolade or list of them, to which everyone responds with some sort of “Way to go, Kerri!” or “That’s awesome!” message. But, it’s not unusual for one team member to point out an accolade for another team member in front of everyone; and that, to me, is what being on a team is all about. The success of one equals a win for the whole team.

I’ve actually been fortunate to have been on several professional teams like this one in my career. I think I’m good at sniffing them out, but also, I have taken it upon myself to kick-start this type of encouraging environment when needed. I guess it’s the cheerleader in me, but I know that I do better and work harder when being encouraged; and honestly, everyone could use a little encouragement. Really, all it takes is a compliment on a job well done or pointing out someone’s strength to lift the team spirit. I’ve also found that encouragement is infectious, and it builds confidence. A confident team is one that can really rock a project, task or account.

With all of this talk of cheerleading, I can’t help but think of my grandfather – my “Paw Paw” – who used to joke with me and my sisters about being cheerleaders. He would say, “I have a cheer for you! ‘Rah, rah, ree – kick ‘em in the knee! Rah, rah, rass – kick ‘em in …the other knee!’” I can’t help but smile when I think of him telling us that same joke over and over.