Aug 5, 2026

It Wasn’t About the Fan

This post was originally shared with subscribers as a “A Quick Note from JW.” If you enjoy these entries, I’d love to have you join the mailing list (below) and receive future notes before they’re published here.

This morning I made another trip to Home Depot as my Mom’s condo remodel continues. I was trying to choose a new ceiling fan when one employee spent far more time helping me than I expected. It wasn’t just polite service—he genuinely cared about helping me make the right decision.

What surprised me even more was that, before I left the store, at least six different employees asked if I needed help. None of them had to. They simply noticed a customer who might benefit from a conversation.

Experiences like that rarely happen by accident. They usually reflect something much deeper than individual personalities. Somewhere, leaders made intentional decisions about what kind of experience they wanted customers to have, and over time those decisions became part of how people naturally work.

It was a good reminder that customers don’t experience our strategies. They experience our culture.

JW

JW

John Weathington is a veteran management consultant who helps leaders manage difficult organizational change. In a recent effort he helped a $1B High-Tech firm develop and implement a hyper-growth strategy to achieve $5B

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