Yesterday morning’s drive to work blessed us with brilliant autumn colors, which arrived finally after this year’s slow transition to fall.  A few trees in particular stood out.  Trees that I’d looked at dozens of times this year suddenly distinguished themselves from the rest of the forest.  What made them special?  What made them stand out?  Was it their orientation, their shape, or did their color make them so unique as to catch my eye?

I kept thinking about this on the drive in and throughout the day and noticed other things standing out.  Among these were the shiny posts in rank order standing north of M-55.  These posts will hold Wolverine’s first large scale solar array, set to go operational around the New Year.  A decided change in the view and a curious contrast in the otherwise rural landscape.

Then I considered several Wolverine employees who stand out, too.  These ordinary human beings each started their careers as one humble tree in a forest of employees.  Then, for a number of reasons, some employees begin to stand out – some do this naturally, some work at it.  They work harder, they make sure they go the extra mile.  They strive to do their best, and go beyond “good enough.”  They take pride in serving something bigger than themselves, and they take initiative to create opportunities that make Wolverine better.  In this awesome balance of humble service and exceptionalism, employees can, by themselves, make extraordinary contributions to our corporate landscape.

So here’s to our beautiful changing landscape.  Here’s to the trees that bless us with vivid color, and autumn beauty.  Here’s to Wolverine employees that dare to stand out, go beyond “good enough”, and capture attention because of how they dare to serve.