Why Due Diligence Matters
I wrote an article that was published this afternoon at BiggerPockets.com, which meant it was time to send out this email. Many who are reading this email have come to know our company very well and many have come to know our family too. We receive thank you cards and letters nearly every week commenting on the impressive company we have built and how impressed they are with the hard charging leadership that comes from Kent Clothier, Sr. We affectionately just call him Senior!
I remember several times over the years that he has been asked about his military background and how impressed people are with the organization, discipline and attention to detail. We find it amusing for several reasons.
- We are human and can miss things just as easy as the next person. We may just miss fewer details, but believe me it happens.
- Because Sr. has never been in the military! He may be the walking, talking epitome of a great drill sergeant, but the reality is that he simply doesn't want himself, his sons, his staff, his company or anything that his name attached to it, to be second best. Period!
So, I am writing this blog today to let all of our clients, friends and future clients know that Kent Sr. is one of the lucky few people who get to schedule a very important and major operation. Just under two weeks ago, after a routine physical where he was pronounced in excellent health, he decided to ask for one more test. Just to do some extra due diligence. If you read the BiggerPockets article you can get all the details, but the bottom line is that the additional tests he ordered showed a problem.
He had no reason to ask for the test. he has been feeling great lately and was gearing up for a very busy year traveling the country playing as close to professional men's softball as you can get. He had plans to win a second National Championship this year. The results of his physical showed he had very good blood pressure, cholesterol under control, no major health issues and all in all the doctor told him to come back next year. He simply decided that out of an abundance of caution, and possibly because his wife asked him to, he decided to have a Coronary Calcium Scan.
That scan showed that my father had a Thoracic Artery Aneurysm. It sounds very scary and it is. The scary part is that there are very few symptoms and they can be subtle. It could have been there for years or it could have recently developed and unfortunately, if not corrected they can be instantly fatal. After further tests, it was revealed that he had substantial blockage in two arteries. My father is going to have open heart surgery on January 30th unless the doctors schedule allows for an earlier surgery date. They are extremely confident in being able to correct both the aneurysm as well as bypass both arteries. It is a major surgery and there is always nervous trepidation, but the lesson he continues to tell everyone around him is that not many people get to schedule a procedure like this one.
He has not wanted this to be publicized and we certainly are not going to be doing any press releases, but we all agreed that it was a very good idea to let our staff, vendors, clients and friends in the industry know of his upcoming surgery. He plans to be back at work on the following Monday (which we are all aware will not happen), but I am fairly sure we will have at least one department head meeting in his hospital recovery room!
Many of you have thanked him for his inspiration and for building such an impressive organization. He would be the first to give credit to the full team, but the full team would absolutely point back to him as a hard driving leader. So he wanted me to communicate to everyone how important it is to do your "Due Diligence" on your health just as you do on your real estate investment portfolio and he has encouraged everyone in the company and our clients as well to get checked out - to make sure that you ask for that one more test. And Brett, Sherry and I wanted to give each of you a heads up about his upcoming procedure.
