Core Values

Mutual Respect

What does it mean to respect a team member — to value his or her contributions? The first step in respecting a team member, I believe, is understanding how the team member's unique experience, knowledge, and personality contribute to the team. As Stephen Covey put it, "Seek first to understand, then be understood."

It's fairly easy to understand—and appreciate—how an employee's technical skills contribute to our mission. We are, after all, a company that prides itself on providing world-class technical expertise and services to our customers. But what's easy to forget is that our technical expertise could not be delivered if it weren't for the skills that other employees bring to the mix. From our program managers to our human resources personnel to the contracts and financing personnel—everyone at HPTi has an important role to play in our overall mission.

Just as we need this mix of professional skills, we also need a healthy mix of personalities on our team. Are you a person who leads with great vision, or a go-to person whose deepest satisfaction is in getting the job done, step by step? In either case—we need you, and we need the powerful synergy that your personalities, in combination, bring to our company.

Mutual respect, then, is about recognizing and appreciating our differences. It's about knowing where these differences are likely to cause friction and then using that friction—not as something that wears us down, but as the crucial tread grip that secures our footing so that we can push ourselves to the next level.

- Robert Jones - Senior Vice President of Corporate Development