Written by Norm Jefferies, Managing Director at Truis
I was recently lucky enough to travel to the top end of Australia. It was a great adventure exploring North Queensland with family and friends. It was exciting leaving the main roads to drive on iconic hard-core four-wheel drive trails like the Old Telegraph Track (OTT) but surprisingly to me it I also got a lesson on human behaviour.
Early into the trip I had commented to one of my travelling companions how well everyone was getting on. Adam replied back advising the real test will be when things start going wrong. Under pressure is when you really get to see what the team is made of. Adam is a seasoned traveller and his comments really sparked my curiosity. Anyone that has traveled the OTT will know that things undoubtedly will go wrong.
Soon after starting the OTT you come across the first major obstacle, Palm Creek. There is a descent into the creek, a short drive along the creek and then a very technical climb out the other side. When we arrived at Palm Creek there was already a queue of 4WD’s waiting to tackle it and a vehicle that had become very stuck. I noticed that it didn’t take long for everyone in our group to jump in and help, whether on a shovel, running a winch or providing whatever support they could. It took quite a while but we got the vehicle out and soon after got our group through.
This was a wonderful learning experience for me. For a start, I had to give up my reliance on schedules and the destination, instead committing to the journey. It was a good outcome. Our team never got flustered and we looked after one another. I think we had this good result because of our teamwork and the trust we had in each other. Knowing we had this support meant you never felt on your own, even when something was going wrong.
Trust is just as important in business. I have learned, for people to operate at their best they need to feel trusted. It was great to be able to take a month off and not worry about what was happening at Truis. Just like on my adventure, I knew the team would be looking after one another, our customers, and our partners. I was confident if challenges arose my colleagues at Truis would go the extra mile to support our customers out with whatever problem they may be facing.
Business can be like my adventure to the Cape. Things do go wrong from time to time. It’s not until you call out for help that you will truly find out who is on your team and stay by your side through your challenges. You can always trust our people to be empathetic to your cause and be ther to help you get through what ever challenge you are facing. Over my thirty years at Truis I have seen customers come to us when things go wrong and I have watched our team be their calm in the storm. I have watched them go the extra mile and never run away when things get tough. We often get feedback from our customers that they felt when things went wrong we stuck by them and stayed together.