I started out working in Dallas, Texas in the spring of 1975 for EDS as a grunt in the banking division. Now if you don't know what a grunt is, that means you were the lowest person on the totem pole. Every person in my office was a retired military person so they were not only my seniors but they were all older adults with a history of being in serious situations during war. In fact the head person in the group was Jerry Welch a retired Navel person. I always loved my first interview with him because he was very proper and stiff except that behind his navy blue coat was a napkin barely sticking out. I had to ask and he readily showed me what the napkin was for, his ink pen had leaked and he had the biggest blue spot on his white starched shirt. Let's just say it broke the ice. Then there was Keene Taylor a decorated Marine and Phil Sutphen who was a master at breaking into things but I only know that he was undercover during the Vietnam War. In fact he told me about how he would be dropped behind enemy lines to survey what they were doing and what were the military targets that needed to be reduced. He said his biggest mission was getting out without being caught and of course being alive. I always loved to hear his stories and one of my favorites was when he was stationed in Turkey with a mission to count soldiers. Charlie Veithe was my direct supervisor and the thing I remember most is he gave me my first review. He said I was a little immature but don't grow up too fast and you deserve a raise for working so diligently. He told me I was probably the fastest person to graduate from the phase one program and also get a raise which never happens. To say the least I felt very priviledged. Oh ya, I cannot forget Phil Cunningham who recruited me to go to Chicago on an EDS project in downtown Chicago. Well there were others (Bill ?? cannot remember yet). OK, back to the story.
My beginning at EDS was the seed for every job I ever had working for a company. Those men and women recruited me for many years but the one job I worked on that stood out was the Bank of Iran contract. I don't know how many long hours I worked on it but it was intense and Ross and his army of direct reports were the folks we had to present and defend our proposal for the Bank of Iran. They were tough but once you had their approval you never had to second guess yourself. They always had your back. We won that contract and Shouna and I signed up to go to Tehran for a couple of years. We never made it because it was slow to develop and I was needed in Chicago. If you are curious there is a book and movie about what happened to our EDS employees and what Ross did for them.
But now let me tell you what Ross and company did for me, even before I was barely in Dallas. One morning I was working and Charlie asked me if something was wrong. I told him that my dad was in surgery at that moment with a tumor in his colon. Charlie immediately told me to get out of there and go back to Oklahoma. In fact everyone of about 15 men and women basically pushed me out the door and before I would get Shouna and get to Oklahoma there were flowers in the room and notes saying get well to my dad and mom. I was and still am overwhelmed at what they did that day. If you think this is an exception you would be wrong. Ross taught his people that the employees are what make a company great and to take care of them. I saw story after story much greater than mine but one thing I remember most of all was Ross signing a book and giving it plus flowers to my wife and telling her, "Thank you for letting your husband work for us". Shouna always says, don't get him started telling his EDS stories as they do not end. She is correct.
Well, thanks for listening and of course, "what do you learn in the Osage?":
- how to work and give it your best including 110%
- have a great attitude and it will pay off
- perform first and rewards will not be far behind
- expect more of yourself than of others
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