One of my favorite things to do is to get out in the woods. There is something special about hitting a trail with your family and taking in the beauty that is easy to look at, yet just as easy to overlook. My family is fortunate. We live within a short drive of the Appalachian Trail. The trail covers nearly 2,200 miles from Georgia to Maine. Living in Virginia gives us access to over 200 of those miles. There are times when you are deep into the woods, where the trail is a little harder to discern. There are times when weather sneaks up on you. The other day my son was leading the charge on a hike. He was suddenly confronted with a buzzing sound that caused a quick and immediate retreat, as his senses raised a caution flag. In this case, it was only a harmless swarm of flies. That said, he stopped and took stock in what was happening before he settled back into his stride.

I always hike with a compass and a map. When you are in the woods, your surroundings start to take on the same “look and feel” for long stretches. If you are not careful, or if you are over-confident, you can lose your way in a hurry. In business things can change fast. New opportunities can sprout, or perhaps a caution flag stops you in your tracks, until the facts are surfaced and decisions are made. It is important to remember that True North does not change. Our core team beliefs and team values remain. The dynamics of the day or the new realities that confront us have no impact on our “True North.”

Deep in the woods when the trail is challenging, our compass will direct us toward True North. In business and in life, we have our True North to guide us. Some things stay the same. That’s a good thing. I am thankful for True North as a guidepost. This is relevant at our home base with our family. It is also true at Radiant Systems, as we keep moving and progressing toward our team goals. It is true as we care for our customers and Partners.

It is important to remember that “True North is always True North” regardless of the trail or the terrain.

Our job is to check our compass often and keep moving forward with a map, enthusiasm and confidence. When we do, we will connect with the joy that is there for the taking with each stride along the way.

This entry was posted by John T. Kirk, Vice President of North American Distribution on Thursday, July 16th, 2009 at 10:00 am and is filed under Hospitality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.