The Path Less Taken, Part 2: The Joy
The Joy
A lifetime commitment to growth and learning is one of Larendee’s core values.
How do you maintain a fresh sense of wonder while maintaining unwavering commitment? To Larendee, it’s in learning by doing.
“I’m a life-long learner, from books, mentors, continuing education, people I meet on the job.”
It’s like a love story. You discover something, you fall in love, maybe you fall out of love. Then you learn and rediscover something and fall in love all over again. It’s a winding road, but the energy that springs from doing what you love keeps you going.
“It’s ironic. My father is an accomplished minister and construction professional. Yet everything I learned about the construction industry I learned on the job. Then I fell in love with it.”
Like in so many great love stories, Larendee found a new way to connect to what she holds dear – Roos Advisors. The firm offers professional training, counseling, team building, and leadership coaching. Through her company, she shares her expertise so that more business leaders can achieve their goals. Combining her comprehensive knowledge of the industry with training in classic psychological methods like DiSC, Larendee improves individual performance and builds stronger teams for over 250 organizations.
Larendee’s job requires deep engagement with clients. For her, it’s not simply a job, it’s a source of inspiration.
“It’s my hobby to spend time with people and watch them solve problems.”
She sees her work as building a human laboratory. Unlike behavioral scientists who observe test subjects to validate or refute a set of hypotheses, Larendee’s observations are practical, spiritual, and most importantly, human. She observes the people who come across her path with that sense of wonder and appreciation because she wants to bring out the best in them, and in turn, they bring their best to their teams; thereby, building better companies.
As a sports enthusiast, Larendee likens professional training to sports training.
“Why do we like to watch the NBA Playoffs? Because the best teams bring their best to the floor. Roos Advisors has worked with over 250 management teams and thousands of people since 2003. I love it when I connect with individuals and bring them together to find common ground. No one gets lost. They then can bring their best selves to work, build the best team, and have a winning season.”
The power of ideas
“One reason I love real estate is that you can take a piece of dirt and turn it into something beautiful.”
It’s the less-talked-about, poetic side of real estate. It’s true, all grand structures emerge from dirt, meticulously and slowly, too. The construction of Notre Dame began in 1163! And a finish date is hard to declare. We’re often too enchanted by glorious cathedrals to ask how that glory comes into being. In this case it came from Maurice de Sully, the Bishop of Paris’ idea of converting the ruins of two earlier basilicas into a single building, on a larger scale. The cathedral never stopped evolving through the centuries, thanks to generations of stonemasons, master builders, and artists. And we wonder what a miracle is? In Larendee’s view, the same applies to organizations.
“We can create an incredible, amazing organization from just an idea, and ideas are limitless. It’s the reason I love consulting so much, we can continue to grow and expand when we have new ideas.”
Much like later artists who restored or added new elements to Notre Dame, Larendee works with existing structures often, breathing new life into them.
