by Brad Lindemann, CEO/Founder, Ambassador SolutionsIt has always seemed humbly fitting to me that our company was founded on April Fool’s Day in 1989. As I considered how to appropriately commemorate our 35th anniversary on April 1, 2024, my thoughts turned first towards the future of the tech staffing industry. Why not add my two cents to the “experts” opinions? Isn’t my guess as good as theirs on the future of AI, cyber security and the relentless pursuit of work-life balance while constantly tweaking our post-Pandemic flexible work arrangements? Probably not.
So, I did an about-face back to the beginning. Back to the Basic Beliefs upon which our company and its uniquely inspiring culture were built. Without this solid foundation, we would have commemorated our last anniversary many years ago. We would not have survived the passing of millennium clouds and bursting of dot com bubbles in 2001. We would not have emerged from our bank’s workout group during the Great Recession in 2009. Without what I am about to share with you, Ambassador Solutions would be little more than a faded memory.
Since people are the crown jewel of God’s creation and the only “product” a staffing firm has to offer, it seemed prudent to establish a “people first philosophy”. Sounded good…felt right…forced us to focus on the real bottom line.
With that, the original match illuminating our uniquely inspiring culture had been struck. This led us on a quest to understand more deeply why people were so special to God. Our conclusions became the foundation blocks upon which we built our culture.
These Basic Beliefs are derived from what the Bible says people are:
What good are beliefs that remain idly in our heads without getting our hands and feet involved? Our Basic Beliefs then informed our Core Values which inspire us to action daily.
In 2005 we put “feet” to our Core Values by formulating our “Values in Action”. These are guideposts for living out our values while interacting with clients, prospects, employees, contractors, candidates, vendors and advisors of the firm. Go here for more on Our Values to D.I.E. For And Live By.
For those who believe faith should be left at the front door of the workplace, I respectfully disagree. We welcome people of all faiths into our business. We require all employees and contractors to abide by our Core Values and Values in Action. While our corporate values have been informed and inspired by my personal faith, the line separating the two is clear.
Wherever you are on your own personal faith journey, I want to encourage and challenge you. I encourage you to press on until you find the peace, love and joy that true faith should yield. I challenge you to be intellectually honest in your pursuit. True faith does not require you to check your brain out to lunch and take a blind leap of faith. Much to the contrary.
For those interested in exploring the Christian faith, I wholeheartedly recommend two exhaustively researched yet relatively short books:
- More Than A Carpenter by Josh McDowell
- Imagine Heaven by John Burke
To learn more about my personal faith journey, you might enjoy reading The Most Important Chapter In My Life.
