Success Milestones at Trase Miller
Milestones are a series of numbered markers placed along a road at mile intervals. They are typically located at the side of the road and the mileage is generally a measure along the road from a fixed starting point. Milestones are constructed to provide reference points along the road. This can be used to reassure travelers that the right path is being followed, and to indicate either distance travelled or the remaining distance to a destination. The idea of Milestones came from the Roman Empire road builders. At the centre of Rome, they erected the "Golden Milestone" which marked the centre of the empire. This important artifact went missing some time in history.
Milestones are also metaphorical markers of reaching a specific stage in a project continuum or even the continuum of life. Malcolm Gladwell wrote a great book a few years ago called Outliers. Though outlier is a term generally used in describing statistical deviations, Gladwell uses the term to discuss “the story of success”. In his book he also talks quite a lot about milestones. Gladwell asserts that the most successful people are the most practiced people. He talks about the success of the Beatles and Bill Gates and the notion that 10,000 hours of practice time is what sets star performers apart.
Trase Miller attracts and retains star performers. Over 50% of our team has 10,000 hours of practice (5+ years) right here in our Tulsa contact center. Our company is special. We don’t take the comings and goings of people lightly. No matter what circumstance people part from us, we try to be reflective. This brings us back to the idea of milestones.
Cheryl Meade is one of Trase Miller’s star performers. This week Cheryl announced her departure after 16+ years. Cheryl has been a great manager who like a milestone reassured thousands of travelers that the right path was being followed. She has in fact been a Golden Milestone to Trase Miller.
Related to the idea of milestones are the concept of parting stones. Parting stones are monuments that provide direction at a fork in the road (a parting of the way). An example can be found in England's Lake District. Known as the Brothers Parting Stone, it marks the place where two brothers last saw each other. The inscription reads:
Here did we stop; and here looked round
While each into himself descends,
For that last thought of parting Friends
That is not to be found.
Brother and friend, if verse of mine
Have power to make thy virtues known,
Here let a monumental Stone
Stand–sacred as a Shrine
This blog is dedicated to Cheryl. Best of luck. You will be missed.