Adversity has made many a man great Who had he remained prosperous would only have been rich – Maurice Switzer

Ever wondered where greatness comes from? Is it something from within, or is it the adulation of the masses, or is it the quiet confirmation of a loved one? Or must it be a combination of all three in order to be effective?

I think you must have all three in order for your greatness or the greatness of a team to really show. The last 6 months has been some pretty heady stuff, doubling of sales, tripling of assets, and more than doubling of trucks and trailers. I have tried to keep my feet on the ground (sometimes successfully, sometimes not), and just trying to stay ahead of the curve. My beautiful bride Lisa, took the time out to sit me down and tell me some really nice things that she was seeing when she stopped and said ‘I have always loved you, but for the first time I admire you. Confirmation that you are doing it right always signals a feeling of greatness.

Just recently I was asked to be a speaker and panelist for an upcoming Eagle Ford Oil Industry Symposium. My first thought was ‘Lord they must be hard up for speakers’, but then I thought about the background of Lake and my 3 decades as president and over 4 decades of working for the company and decided they must see something in me that I could not. Knowing that others see your greatness lets me know that somehow, someway what we are doing right here at Lake…well we are doing it right and our greatness becomes validated.

And then finally, it hits you. Your company, the little engine that could, has built momentum, has gotten the clients that demand the highest level of service, built the assets you need in order to advance and most importantly has attracted the kind of partners/associates/managers/employees that by their very presence says ‘Heck yes, we want to be a part of this’. That’s when you know you have attained greatness. You have gotten to your first goal.

Next week I will share with you where your next step should be. Also there are about 4 really big things that are in the works this week, which I will share with you next week.

Until then…

It has been a couple of weeks since I beat on the keyboard and a number of things have happened and a few more are just a few more steps away before being completed.

First off, Jerry Santos and I met with Antonio Medina down at Halliburton in Laredo to go over the final designs of three of our most ambitious designs: the Gallegos 1680, the bulk barite tank, and the triple pod aluminum bulk trailer. It looks like we are all moving according to schedule and we should be quoting on the aluminum trailers and bulk barite tanks within just a couple of weeks.

Halliburton has also asked us to take over the transportation duties at their facilities in Beeville and La Grange, Texas. That now brings to five the number of Halliburton facilities that Lake is the prime carrier at. Outstanding Job Jerry!

It looks as though Lake will be opening up a permanent terminal in Midland Texas for the exclusive use of Halliburton/Baroid. This could be huge for Lake due to the massive expansion of the Permian Basin fields, Halliburton’s increased use of our assets, and the shortage of experienced dedicated equipment out there. We will start with 5 units and I suspect will be up to 20 by the end of spring.

Started the preparation of the back five acres for Lake Oilfield Services. Hope to have it level and surfaced by April 1st. Our plans are to have 3 service bays by the end of the summer to take care of all the fabrication and maintenance work due to occur because of LOS.

Lake is the cover story for Tank Transport Magazine for February. This issue will focus on the oilfield industry. Thanks to Dave Jagge, our Publicist for putting this together.  Both Lake Truck Lines and Lake Oilfield Services are major sponsors for the 5th Annual Coalition Blowout on January 28th.  Over 500 of our clients will be in attendance.

Wow!  That would be enough….but we have even more going on.

Until next week…

Ooops for those of you nursing a bitty headache:  Happy New Year.

Well it’s a new year, a new day, a new time for all of us. For those of us prone to self reflection, a time to look forward by looking back. A time to replace old worn out habits that did not serve us with ones that bring us to our very, very best.

I want to first thank all my managers for bringing us through and so very far in 2011. You have done a great job, now stop patting yourself on the back and let’s attack 2012.

How will we be attacking 2012? By questioning everything we do and have done over the past 6 decades. By looking at our processes and examining them closely.  Do they serve us, the contractor, the customer. I have found that I have learned more in the last 6 months than the last 26 years. And it makes me hungry for even more.

We will be going after new clients and building strong relationships with our present clients. There will be tremendous growth in 2012 but there will also be growth from our competition, and we must prepare for that.

We will be growing intelligently. Evaluating each new opportunity, running that opportunity through a new number of tests to see if it fits our business model. We will be taking debt on only in a way that allows us to maximize our assets and allows to better serve our clients. Thank you to my banker, Russell Gribble for teaching me that. There will be many deals that we pass on because it is not who we are.

Me personally? Well, I am going to lose weight (diet and exercise, I already have a plan), double my sales calls, relearn golf. Get rid of bad habits and replace them good ones. You can help. I will put my weight down each blog. If I lose weight, give me an atta boy, if I don’t, take me to the woodshed.

No matter what you are doing in your life, reestablish a plan to make your life better and more productive…..and if you need to, lose a few pounds.  You will look better by 2013.

Until next week…