Executive viewpoint from Betty Lou Smith

Every new season brings with it the excitement of change. People typically meet change with resistance; however, we can strive to embrace change and move forward to sucess.

In a world where all too many of our global brothers and sisters wake up to a world of fear and unrest, how lucky we are to live in a country where we can pick and choose our life's direction.  If you have watched the televised coverage of this year's Winter Olympics, then you have shared in the thrill of watching our very own Sasha Cohen, a teenager from New York, go for the gold in championship figure skating. The character that Sasha exhibited was, in a word, extraordinary.  After falling not once but twice, she continued to enthrall us with her artistry and determination.  In spite of the certain knowledge that she had lost her chance at the gold, she perservered, knowing that she had done her very best.

While we all must try to find serenity with our individual talents and dispositions, we can nevertheless consistently choose to be winners.  Winners choose to be thier very best in spite of adversity, loss and disappointment. This, I believe, is the very cornerstone of human character, and it applies to both our personal and professional lives. The truth of the matter is that winning is a lot more fun than feeling sorry for ourselves, and in a free world, each of us is in the driver's seat when it comes to taking charge of our destinies. How often we take this level of personal freedom for granted.

As a nation and as a company, we face unprecedented challenges in today's modern world. Terrorism, market fluctuation and natural disasters are a global fact of life, Here at Hunter Douglas, there is the never-ending challenge of maintaining industry leadership despite the onslaught of low-quality, look-alike products from professionally marketed competitors.  Whatever the challenges, I believe that all of us invariably meet our own expectations. If those expectations are of winning, then we will always be on top of our game in spite of unexpected setbacks or losses.

Few of us will ever know the pressure of an Olympic competition. Nevertheless, each day provides us with the opportunity to display our commetment to character. The way we treat and talk about each other, sharing credit with our fellow workers-these behaviors reflect who we are and what we stand for, as a company and as individuals. As this year's Winter Olympics amply demonstrated, it is the little things that show the world what we're made of.

Yes, there are many issues and events over which we have no control. But positive enthusiasm and the determination to succeed will always separate the winners from the might-have-beens.