In addressing the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce recently, Jeff E. Banning, CTB, President/CEO of Trinity Transport, Inc. stated that there is are new rules for successful companies this year.

I believe there's a new set of rules for success. It doesn't matter if you're in transportation, a service business or a manufacturing firm; the same rules apply. I'd like to share them with you.

In order to seize opportunities that lead to success, companies must be ever mindful of changes occurring beyond the obvious. You must continue to be willing to adapt to change. We are living in a constant period of transition. What works today becomes history in a hurry.

Successful businesses today do not stop for self-congratulations. They are too busy raising the bar. You must become your own fiercest competitor. No sooner than you cross one frontier, you must be out, scouting the next.

Companies can no longer assume that good basic service is enough. It's not. You must continually work to dominate your market by improving your processes year after year.

You must believe in continuous improvement, always trying to be forward thinking, asking yourself daily how you can get better, and then doing something about it.

You must be creative and innovative. More than anything else, this means recognizing and embracing ideas. They may originate anywhere inside the company or out. Either can work. The key is to implement these changes quickly.

Management and executives must create and maintain a culture that encourages employees to bring ideas into the company. Just as important, they must listen to and consider these ideas. And respond to them.

No company can afford to ignore change and just do what comes naturally. That may have worked in years past. But those days are in the history books. Competition today is really stiff and we need to use technology to stay out front.

Technology gives a company the tools it needs to meet the demands of the 21st century. It is the driving force that will either catapult you down the road, or leave you limping along, behind the pack.

Successful professionals continue to believe that this is a people business. Relationships must be cultivated not only with your customers and vendors, but also with colleagues within the company. At Trinity, we firmly believe in the 3R's – Real Relationships Rule.

Training will always be a high priority in a successful company. Training helps people to perform at their best. Good performance boosts self worth. A sense of worth builds employee loyalty to the team, the company, and the customer.

To be successful today requires a culture of caring – not only for the company, but its community and the world outside. A company and its employees must be willing to give back – to donate time, money and ideas to help improve our communities.

I believe a successful company needs to create a culture that allows team members to address their jobs with complete integrity and morality – not only to do it right, but to do the right thing.

Along with everything else, leadership beliefs have changed. Today, the characteristic that sets leaders apart from those less successful is not ambition. It's nor intelligence or charisma or personality. And it's certainly not luck.

The valued leader today is one with the ability to set goals that people can become committed to achieving. It is the person who is consistent in involving, rewarding and recognizing people.

A company must cherish and nurture their real asset - the people who comprise the company. Those who lead the company must be a model of the kind of leaders you want to inspire and develop.

You must provide leadership training. Create pathways to success and leadership for those within the ranks. Create a culture where people care about each other, and the company they work for.

It's up to the people at the top to create that kind of culture. One that has everyone believing that they have a stake in the success of the company.

To succeed today, it's really very simple. You must get better and better each and every day, create an environment of high tech and high touch and every day, appreciate and reward the people who make it work. If every element of an organization, and every person, gets a little better every day, then that organization will be unstoppable.

An organization that builds this kind of momentum will soon evolve into a market leader. It will be successful and profitable. And most important, it will be a source of pride for each and every person it employs.

Details - www.trinitytransport.com