WE ARE ALL ENLISTED
I graduated from Utah State University in 1974 with a
Bachelors degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering. I loved my 5 years at
the University in Logan, Utah, but it was also a happy day to leave the
University and begin working in my chosen career.
I joined a small private consulting firm named, Horrocks
Engineers, Inc. and began working in their office in American Fork, Utah. At the time, Horrocks was joint-venturing
with a regional firm, John Carollo Engineers, designing and building wastewater
treatment plants in northern Utah. That
happened to be my school specialty so I enjoyed learning the engineering
business in that situation. My wife and
I had the opportunity to live in Walnut Creek, California for a year doing project
design in one of Carollo’s offices. It
was a great experience and really launched my technical engineering
abilities. After 5 years, I had become a
licensed, Professional Engineer and became a young partner at Horrocks. I then quit engineering to fly airplanes as a
corporate pilot.
Though I thoroughly enjoyed it, things did not work out
exactly as planned as a pilot, so after 1 year of flying, I re-entered the
engineering business working for the firm Creamer and Noble Engineering in St.
George, Utah. After 2 years there, I relocated
in 1982 to Millard County, Utah and founded Sunrise Engineering, Inc. in
Fillmore and my life changed forever. My
business partner, Jim Cox and I had a few employees and a few contracts as we
set out to seek our fortunes. I could
tell many stories of the business struggles and successes over the years since
1982 but at the end of my career in 2012, my life changed forever again, I sold
my remaining shares at Sunrise to serve as Mission President in the Belgium
Netherlands Mission. Sunrise then had
160 employees working in 12 offices in the western United States and operated
15 separate business units and business specialties.
At Sunrise, I went through many ups and downs. All the employees that I hired over the years
brought with them unique talents and abilities.
Some of the ugliest downs were when I laid-off employees. Our employee turnover rate at Sunrise was
extremely low but still lay-offs occasionally occurred including some partners
and good friends. My philosophy as
President and CEO of Sunrise was to do all I could to help people be successful
at Sunrise. I always agonized over
lay-offs because it affects human beings, families and frequently resulted in
relocation, and assorted other tough challenges for the former employee. It was essentially voting, "you die"
or "off the island," to someone who I liked. I always felt responsible as their employer
for failing them in not giving them the right seat on the bus for a winning
situation. I still feel somehow dirty
for having made those tough calls for what I perceived to be the necessary,
higher good.
A lay-off does not always come when the employee’s problems
flair up. It usually comes when there
are blue skies and things seem settled down. Then the work load changes or something else triggers
the hard decision to strengthen the company by cutting the guy that was at
risk. It usually takes them by surprise;
sometimes no surprise. But, either way
they walk out of the office just as devastated. Having
lived it from my side of the table, it haunts me how many people were someone’s
son or daughter that I did that to. For
the record, I also felt a strong responsibility to the other employees in the
company who needed the company to be strong without the drag of employees that were
not performing or no longer needed.
It is interesting how similar the Mission is to
Sunrise. Like employees, every
missionary is different, but thankfully in the Mission, no one gets laid
off. After all, we are all
volunteers. Each of you has your own strengths,
weaknesses, styles, likes, dislikes, etc.
Each of you can contribute to the overall work in your unique way
because of your unique talents and who you are.
This diversity makes us stronger.
For every personal weakness someone has an off-setting personal
strength. The group as a whole is
therefore much stronger than an individual or a group of clones. The Lord said through the Prophet Joseph
Smith:
“106 And if any man among you
be strong in
the Spirit, let him take with him, him that is weak,
that he may be edified in
all meekness,
that he may become strong also.
109 Therefore,
let every man stand in his own office,
and labor
in his own calling; and let not the head say
unto the feet it hath no need of the feet; for without the feet how shall the
body be able to stand?
110 Also
the body hath need of every member,
that all may be edified together,
that the system may be kept perfect.”
(DC 84:106-110)
Because all of you are different, one of the great blessings
of serving a mission can be realized. In
companionships, you can learn to get along with people who are different than
you. You can learn to like your
companion and at least develop a good working relationship with your companion
even if the two of you may never become best friends. A transfer is a sort lay-off and is seldom
the answer to companionship problems. You are here to learn to solve problems
and a transfer would rob you of that opportunity. Frankly, the unlearned skill of getting along
before the transfer would only follow you to the new companionship.
In our church, we have to learn to get along with each other
because we do not just go hear a preacher every Sunday and then go home. We work full time with each other as members
of this church. So my theory is; the
Lord puts us in odd situations so we can learn and grow. This skill of getting along is also needed in
business, families, civic and other relationships. It is worth learning here in this incubator
we call a mission. Paul taught it best
regarding our attitude as missionaries serving together:
“12 For as the body is one,
and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are
one body: so also is Christ.
14 For the body is not one
member, but many.
15 If the foot shall say,
Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the
body?
16 And if the ear shall say,
Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the
body?
17 If the
whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the
whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
21 And
the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the ahead to
the feet, I have no need of you.
23 And
those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon
these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely parts have more
abundant comeliness.
24 For
our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body
together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked:
25 That
there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should
have the same care one
for another.
26 And
whether one member suffer,
all the members suffer
with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.
This is not a business.
There are no layoffs. In fact,
all are welcome to serve and salvation is free.
The workers in the vineyard are very diverse and are all paid the same
wage regardless of when they start their labor and how well they produce. For the most part, I think we do well in capitalizing
on our differences to be stronger and we do a pretty good job of effectively
working with each other despite our differences.
President Robinson
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