PHOTO: (L) Sam Chapin and (R) John Chapin
This past week, my Uncle Sam passed away.
It is always sad when a loved one dies. There are many things we say to comfort ourselves.
We talk about the good life they led and how they are now in a better place. Although both can be true, losing someone doesn’t make it any less sad.
I’m sure everybody reading this has dealt with loss before. I will spare you any more clichés about death and explain why Sam’s life was so valuable to those who knew him. Especially those of us at Willmar Electric.
My dad is the only one of six children in his family to have made a career in the electrical contracting business, which his grandfather, and Sam’s, started. However, after a long career in the grocery distribution business, Sam worked as a consultant for Willmar Electric.
During this 10-year period, I worked with Sam, who mentored me on several key aspects.
The two areas he taught the most were reflections on our purpose statement.
The area Sam knew best from his past life was Human Resources. In his role as leader of the Human Resources department of a large grocery chain, he gained extensive knowledge of employee development. He taught me countless lessons on the value of investing in people as individuals. He always emphasized the importance of treating people as individuals with unique talents and needs. He taught that you will get a better team if you focus on building individuals. Education plans and career paths should be tailored to each individual. A solid company can show each person their path based on their contribution.
However, Sam’s area of work at Willmar Electric focused on the efficiency of the craft person. His focus wasn’t on how to get people to work harder to achieve more productivity so we could make more money. His focus was on making people more efficient, enabling them to achieve more with less waste and experience less stress and fatigue. He understood that lean wasn’t about saving money. Lean is about improving the quality of life.
Sam invested in people because he wanted them to have a better life.
It was often a thankless task because much of what he did involved trying to get people to change, and few of us can change what we do without causing much heartache to those around us. Sam stuck with it because he knew people would be happier in the long run.
When Sam was successful it was because people saw his motives and understood he was there to help. Building personal relationships made a difference—his efforts to relate to people as individuals won the day.
When my dad visited Sam a few weeks ago, he told Sam about all his friends at Willmar Electric and how they were praying for him. He also told Sam about the difference he made in the lives of the people at Willmar Electric. He spoke about Sam’s legacy and how what we did while he was here made a difference in the lives of people who came after him.
My dad said it made a difference. He could tell Sam was happy to find out he had made a difference.
