Reflections on Summit’s First 100 Days: A Journey of Growth and Resilience

Our first 100 days as a company brand have flown past, marked by a mixture of hard work, focus, and perseverance. We’ve celebrated unexpected successes and made many pivots along the way, learning what works and what doesn’t. Keeping our customers at the center of everything we do has been a guiding principle, and it also shapes the way we collaborate as a team, which has been critical to our achievements.

As I reflect on this journey, I’m filled with pride and gratitude for all we’ve accomplished together. Here are some key reflections on  what I have learnt over the first 100 days:

1. Set Clear Goals: Establishing clear objectives at the company level has been crucial for us. Through our Quarterly Planning sessions, we align as a management team to set goals that reflect our vision. These objectives are communicated during our monthly town halls, ensuring everyone is on the same page.

2. Follow the breadcrumbs - information comes to you from many sources:

• Customers: It was essential to understand not just what our customers were telling us, but focus on what they were trying to achieve. By focusing on their desired outcomes rather than simply their requests, we have been designing solutions that genuinely meet their needs.
• Data: We recognised that analysing the right metrics to understand our success is important. By defining what success was and monitoring relevant lead and lag indicators, we were starting to make more informed decisions that shaped the trajectory of our business.
• Employees: Some of our best ideas have come from unexpected voices within the team. I believe that as a leader, it is important to listen to your staff and proactively ask them what they think; thus, I prioritise 1:1 meetings to hear from everyone and encourage open dialogue about their thoughts and suggestions.

3. Be Flexible and Adaptable: Being open to change was vital. As we learnt new information, we sometimes had to make bold changes to our priorities. Communicating the reasoning behind your decisions is essential. Take your staff on the journey so they understand why this is a good decision for the company. After all, everyone wants to be part of a winning strategy. When everyone understands the “why,” they can rally behind a new direction, and you are equipping them to help the company achieve its goals more effectively.

4. Communicate, communicate, communicate: When changes occured, it was crucial to communicate with everyone—sometimes even multiple times. Clear communication ensured that we were all focused on what mattered, maximising efficiency and alignment.

5. Perseverance is key: Let’s face it–not everything goes according to plan. We’ll face mini-failures along the way, but these were opportunities for learning. It's important to distinguish between one-off failures and persistent issues. Remember, a failed idea doesn’t define you—it’s part of the process of growth.

6. Celebrating Successes: We celebrate both planned achievements and unexpected wins based on ideas or experiments we might have tried. Whether through team outings, online games, or simple acknowledgements, these moments of recognition helped to foster a sense of community and motivation.

7. Enjoying the Journey: You can spend at least a quarter of your life at work, sometimes significantly more; therefore, it is important to enjoy your time there. My approach has always been to work hard and play hard, allowing some time to connect with colleagues outside the office when things are not so crazy. I love that my team sometimes get together to meet and go out or play sports or games. It allows people to get to know each other better outside of a work context, build camaraderie, and strengthen our team.

Looking Ahead

As we look forward to the future, I am excited about the opportunities that await us. With our customer-centric approach and commitment to continuous improvement, I have no doubt we’ll achieve great things together. Thank you for being a part of this journey, and let’s continue to make Summit a place where innovation thrives!