There's a quote about following rules from Oliver Wendell Holmes (an old Bostonian like me) that I like to share with young people. They say the young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions. The reason I appreciate this wisdom is that it is so obviously true. As young people we all do our best to understand and follow society's many rules - after all, we have limited personal experiences from which to form sound standards and practices. But as we get older and wiser, we learn when and where rules can be changed to best fit the realities of real life. Some rules, to put it bluntly, should never be broken, such as prohibitions on fraud or unethical business conduct. But not every situation is so obviously black and white, which brings me to Glenair's principles - note that they aren't called "Guiding Rules" because if they were people would likely break them left, right and round the clock. But as principles, they are simply meant to steer our business behavior in a positive direction, rather than dictating every possible turn along the way. The fifteen original principles are illustrated on the Glenair Guiding Principles posters, but these are my personal favourites:


Protect the company's reputation
Serve the customer for their added value and satisfaction
Complete each task to the end
Trust your judgement
Build partnership business relationships

Our guiding principles have further established the culture here at Glenair - and ensured that we remain focused on customer service and ease of doing business - more than any rule book ever could. I just love it when my colleagues encourage each other to "establish a partnership relationship" or "serve the customer for their added value and satisfaction". I believe that our guiding principles are unique in our industry and that they have kept us from making many of the mistakes that can destroy even a great company. The opposite is also true: following these principles has positively made us a better company with a better culture. Would you like to know more? Raise the issue with our professional local sales and marketing representatives, or visit us at one of our many scheduled trade show exhibitions. Glenair is truly a unique organization. Our conscious choice to prioritize principles over rules, or genuine trust over micromanagement, is just one of the many differences you'll find working as a member of our team. Inform yourself. We are a unique, privately held, "first world" company that is breaking new ground.