President's message: Looking through the eyes of others

For as long as I remember, Reliable Controls has valued being open and honest in all its business activities, and in doing so we have developed what many outside our organization have described as a unique and special corporate culture. An important cornerstone of this culture embraces the ability to look through the eyes of others to understand how they feel—to be empathetic.

There are many benefits in trying to put yourself in others’ shoes: it helps foster a connection with people so they feel seen, heard, and valued; it helps you better understand the context of situations, which results in effective prioritization and decision making; and it helps you grow the bridges of trust that anchor long-term, mutually beneficial relationships.

Key to looking through the eyes of others, as many business leaders no doubt already know, is being a good listener. For many business professionals this might be a real challenge because the passionate fire that burns within often prompts you to interrupt another’s chance to speak or complete a sentence. You might become verbally dominant to emphasize a point or rush the conversation to the next idea. (I have certainly been guilty of that behavior.) However, patience is a virtue, and if you practice the habit of using the flappy folds of skin on the sides of your head, instead of those on the front of your face, becoming an effective listener is easier than you might think. Practicing the art of effective listening is good advice all around.

One of the biggest challenges Reliable Controls constantly faces is prioritizing the growing list of great ideas that arrive on our doorstep every day. For many years our R&D team has held face-to-face meetings with our Authorized Dealers, who advocate for you and their company. Our regional sales managers and application engineers make regular visits to your facilities and feed your needs and wants back to our developers. And our Training team spends many hours each year delivering operator training while taking note of learners’ innovative and inspired suggestions for new features and products. Whenever Reliable Controls staff and Authorized Dealers engage with you in a meaningful way, your feedback helps us better understand the context of your expectations for a sustainable building automation system. Feedback to Reliable Controls is formally evaluated in our research and development stack-ranking processes and internal product road map planning sessions. Your feedback is critical to how product development decisions are made at Reliable Controls. Please keep that feedback coming!

Building bridges of trust is an important structural component of the cultural DNA at Reliable Controls. Trust has allowed us to nurture enduring partnerships with a worldwide network of factory-certified, independently owned and operated Authorized Dealers. Together we are cultivating long-term, purposeful relationships with you. And, despite the challenges of rapidly changing technologies, we continue to do our best to look through your eyes and deliver technical solutions that are, as our eastern US regional sales manager says, “backward compatible and forward adaptable.” Building bridges of trust with you and your company results in people and technology that leave no building behind. It provides an evolving, adaptable migration path forward while maximizing your return on investment.

For decades Reliable Controls has maintained a philosophy of honesty in all its activities. This has resulted in a company culture of putting people first and a desire to understand how they feel. We invite you to find examples of our ability to listen, make good decisions, and build bridges of trust that will assist you in your ongoing pursuit of the ART of Building Sustainability.