This week, I received the picture above, showing one our crews on a redevelopment project. The company name on the back of a vest brought back many memories.

Several of us got our start with Brice Building Company, under the tutelage of H.A. Brice, Jr., and the leadership of the company at the time. When I was first starting out, Mr. Brice taught me several significant lessons that I was too young to appreciate at the time, but now I do.

Worry about your current project, not your next one. If you do a good job now, there will be others.

Success is about finding the right customers and getting the right people on the team. I’ve read the same thing in recent books, but his comments came 40 years ago.

If you cannot communicate well, you won’t accomplish as much. Mr.Brice taught me how to write a letter. He was an English major and he would tear into my letters with those damn colored pencils. I would get so mad! But in those few years, he taught me how to communicate openly and succinctly.

I recently read an article arguing that you don’t need a mentor, but I sure am glad I had Mr. Brice to show me some of the ropes.