What Does Inspired to Serve® Mean?
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- January 16, 2019
- 3 min
Inspired to Serve!®
Here at McNICHOLS, something we try to execute on a daily basis is the practice of being "Inspired to Serve®." But what does this mean exactly? We wanted to elaborate a little further about what this mission means. Also, the ways our associates strive to make it a part of every action at McNICHOLS.
Defining Inspiration
inspire/verb: to exert an animating, enlivening, or exalting influence on
One can find inspiration in numerous ways. Steel and metal might not be the first things that come to mind as “inspirational,” but we’ve witnessed some truly inspiring creations from you, our customers! The transformation of our products into unique, stunning, and functional applications inspires us every day.
It’s not just the final creations that we find inspirational. In each step of communication with our customers, we find new things to be inspired by. Whether it is the knowledge you share or your vision for a future project. Interactions with our customers inspire us to know more, strive further, and simply be better.
Defining Service
serve/verb: devote (part of) one's life or efforts to, as of countries, institutions, or ideas
Although the phrase “Inspired to Serve” wasn’t used until later years. Our founder, Bob McNichols, exemplified service long before we began supplying Hole Products. Bob dedicated his life to serving as a lieutenant in WWII. He continued to serve his country and others even as a prisoner of war.
As The Hole Story® will tell you, Bob McNichols was a U.S. Army Air Force bombardier. He was also the sole survivor of a German attack on his crew's Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. During the German assault, Bob noticed his navigator lying wounded in the plane's passageway.
He removed his own oxygen mask to serve his compatriot. In the process, Bob lost consciousness. The next thing he knew, he was lying on the ground staring into the muzzle of a farmer's shotgun.
He spent the next several months in a German prisoner-of-war camp. Despite the circumstances, Bob never gave up hope or his commitment to serve. Before their liberation in May 1945, he assumed the role of camp cook.
Service was ingrained in Bob’s character. He brought this mentality back with him in 1952 when he started McNICHOLS. Today, we strive to embody Bob’s mentality of putting others first.
It was Bob himself who first Inspired us to Serve. Furthermore, it is his motivating example that we continue to model each interaction upon.
We feel lucky to have customers who inspire us, and we aim to serve others in the way that Bob taught us. All across our Hole Network, whether it be at a local Metals Service Center or even over the phone, we hope that you have witnessed the spirit of “Inspired to Serve®.”