A Thank You,

John Kupsh

A&J Vans

April 20, 2011

John,

On my drive home tonight, I got to thinking about my new position.  Reflecting on the things that I find myself involved in a day, and the reasons why I have those responsibilities; I decided that I needed to write down some of my thoughts.

I was in your employ for roughly 9 years.  I realize now how truly young and inexperienced I was when you hired me.  And I find myself thinking about some of the things that I was blessed to have learned during that time.

I guess this is a thank you letter.  Once in a while, we all need to be recognized for what we do for people.  For that reason, I want to recognize you for the mentor that you have truly been to me.  During my friendship with you, you have been a constant source of insight into how business needs to be done.  You were willing to take the time and effort to make me a better business person, in all aspects of the phrase.

Just a brief list of the skills that you tried to endow me with, and coach, and provide feedback on.  Organization. Focus. Drive and Ambition. Competition. Marketing. Advertising. Customer Service. Public Relations. Negotiation. Human Resources. Accounting. Budget Management. Housekeeping. Merchandising. Product Design. Product and Workplace Ergonomics. Continual Improvement. Coaching. Mentoring. And most importantly Leadership.

All of these skills are things that I now find myself with some level of ability that is far and beyond what it was when I started working for you. And I believe that you deserve a fair amount of the credit for that.  I now realize the effort you put in on a constant and consistent basis to attempt this level of mentorship to your people. 

I used to say that I didn’t really have a job description.  My normal comment was that if we didn’t know whose job it was, it was probably mine.  When I think of the breadth of my duties with A&J, I even sometimes wonder how it all got done. It was sometimes overwhelming.  I notice now however that I find myself taking responsibility for things that are beyond the scope of this new position based only on the need for those things to happen.  Seems like that word, responsibility, may be the biggest thing that you managed to instill in my workplace persona.

I don’t know if anybody has ever thanked you in writing before.  I somehow doubt it. Even as I attempt to do so it seems out of place. It is not part of our normal employment cycle. Nonetheless, Thank You.  Although I do feel that the time was right for me to move on, I also feel that my time with you has been absolutely crucial to the future of my career.  I wish you, and A&J, all the best in the future.

                                                                                                            Sincerely,

                                                                                                            Greg M. Wilker