We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again: We can teach all that one needs to know about being a technician, or a manager, or a supervisor. We can teach the skills, we can teach the processes, we can teach the knowledge.
We can’t teach integrity. That’s something our people have to be born with and, luckily, every single person that works for us has that in spades.
Take, for example, Tyler Binnebose.
Binnebose has only been working for Transportation Partners & Logistics for a short time but, in that short time, he’s already proven himself to be a leader; both in the field and off.
He started working with TP&L just three months ago, after originally turning down an offer! But, his reason for turning the job down was an admirable one.
“TP&L originally reached out to me 8 or 9 months ago,” Binnebose said. “But I’m extremely loyal when it comes to my work and my work ethic, so I was pretty loyal to the previous company and I wasn’t ready to move on.”
Integrity.
But, patience is a virtue and the guys in charge at TP&L knew that if they were patient, eventually, Binnebose would come on board. Eventually, he did join the company, and his reasons for doing so were very simple.
“To me, [the reason I joined] was because of the growth the company is going through, and their vision,” he stated. “As a leader, you’re always taught to look 6, 7, 8, 9 months or a year in advance. And I just couldn’t see that projection with my previous company. But with everything I learned through TP&L and knowing some of the senior leadership and knowing that the vision’s going out that far, and seeing their growth right now – I think that to be a part of this company was special for me. So, I made the jump over.”
After some consideration, it was an easy decision. Binnebose has been working in the wind industry since 2007. About seven years ago, he said, he and his previous company built a project for TP&L in Enid, Oklahoma. He liked what he saw from the crew, and he took notice of how the managers did business. He was also intrigued by the company’s startup status.
“You know, when you hear ‘startup’ or about a company starting from scratch, a lot of people get leery with that because there’s an excessive workload that comes with that,” he offered. “So there’s a passion that you have to have in order to fulfill that. I’ve done that [myself] in the past, with several projects and, to me, it was a challenge. It was stepping up for the challenge, and that’s what finally got me onboard.”
He welcomed the challenge, and he’s always ready and willing to learn and grow as a professional. That’s exactly what he’s done as the company’s Senior Operations Manager.
“I was a project manager in my previous role,” Binnebose stated. “And I came on board with TP&L as a Senior Operations Manager, so the roles are similar, but there’s a slight difference. I do feel like I’ve used some of that project manager skills as I’ve come into the operation side.”
As the Senior Operations Manager, Binnebose has overseen immense growth in terms of employees.
“In the past two months, we’ve probably added 40 individuals or so,” he revealed.
He manages approximately 45 different people on his own team, which has been exciting but there have been some struggles.
“The challenges that come with substantial growth?” he laughed. “You know, it’s the manpower, the tooling, what economy we’re sitting in right now, acquiring tools and sourcing equipment; it’s all been difficult. Each step we take, every turn we make, there’s a fight with [all of those things].”
Still, the job is an exciting one, and it’s one he’s excelling at. The reason for that, he says, is because he figured out ‘the secret sauce.’
“You have to stay engaged with the field and bring in people that are heavy hitters,” he revealed. “You build your base so that, when we do accept more growth, we’re prepped and ready for that in the appropriate timeframe. So, the secret sauce is staying engaged with the field, growing from the ground up with them, digging in, and not giving up.”
Growth is something that’s important to Binnebose, both in his own career and in terms of the company itself. It’s always about looking forward. What’s next? What can they be doing to get bigger, brighter, and better?
“I think what stands out to me is the fact that TP&L isn’t scared of the growth,” he said. “They’re not scared to get in and get dirty. They know that there’s an opportunity there, and they jump in and take it.”
That’s the company, but what about he himself? How has he grown?
“I think I’ve grown and I’ve learned from who I’m interacting with,” he said. “Whether it’s Justin or Chase or Curtis; all of those guys I can immediately look up to. When they step into a room or they step on a conversation, you can tell that they’re intelligent. You know they’re not scared. You can just instantly look up to those guys. And I think working around that level and that caliber of an individual, you either have to grow up, or you get pushed off to the side. So, I think it’s unintentionally forced growth through their leadership style.”
And that’s exactly how Binnebose likes it. It’s also how he leads his own team.
“It’s the exact same way,” he said. “Head on. Don’t be scared to get your hands dirty, and lead by example. You know, you always hear that. But I think getting your hands dirty and being with the guys and showing them that we’re not scared and that we’re gonna grow and we’re gonna do it correctly and, most importantly, that we’re here for them – I think that’s the foundation of what we’re doing. Because if we don’t have good guys in the field and we can’t lead them properly, we’re gonna have big issues.”
Luckily, Tyler Binnebose is a good leader. He’s a good manager. More than that, though, is the fact that he’s a good human being. And that’s something we can’t teach. But with him, we never had to.
