Hello and welcome to the Lawn Hustle.
Season number one, episode number 11.
In this week's episode and next week's episode,
we're going to discuss leadership and what does it take to be a great leader.
When I started my business,
I said someone in Newcastle,
Indiana has to be the best.
It might as well be me.
And if it's meant to be, it's up to me.
My attitude will determine my altitude.
Attitude can make or break me and you.
So what does it take to be a good leader, a great leader?
Leaders must develop problem solving skills.
I've been in business for 15 years and I can't speak for you,
but I can speak for me and I can speak for
professional lawn maintenance because in 15 years,
we have had to deal with our share of problems.
And I had to develop problem solving skills in order to rebound or recover from
a problem and continue to work my business.
I refuse to let problems define me.
I said in my very first podcast,
I am a throat cancer survivor.
I refuse to let that define me.
It changed me, but it did not break me.
And I refuse to be defined by cancer.
So great leaders has to develop problem solving skills.
Great leaders must learn the art of delegation.
If your business is going to grow and succeed,
the sooner you learn the value of delegation,
the better off you will be.
So what is delegation?
Delegation is assigning team members certain tasks within the business and giving them the time and the freedom to work on that task until it is accomplished.
It might be something as simple as handing your lead foreman a daily schedule of properties that need to be serviced.
Here's the list.
Go do it.
And giving them the freedom and the liberty to accomplish what needs to be accomplished that day without looking over their shoulder, without following them.
Give them time and space to complete the task that has been given them.
And if they fail, then you as the leader must step in and show them why they failed, what went wrong,
and what we can do better the next time so we can be successful.
Delegation, giving your team responsibility, frees you up as the business owner to do what only you can do.
Because there are some things in running and operating a business that only you can do.
Cannot be delegated, cannot be assigned, cannot be given to someone else.
You and you alone must do it.
Not only do you need to learn the skill of problem solving and the value of delegation,
you need to be capable of navigating any and all challenges that arise.
Now you and I both know running a business can be challenging.
Day to day operation, meeting payroll, obtaining quality employees, customer satisfaction.
All of these things can be draining.
All of these things can challenge us.
But someone said if you want to grow, you've got to reach beyond yourself.
You've got to break through your comfort zone and stretch yourself.
You have to be able to meet every challenge that arises.
We've had our share of challenges in 15 years.
Equipment breakdowns, finding and obtaining good employees.
What do you do when a mower breaks down?
And you only have so many mowers.
And you have a list of properties that has to be maintained.
What do you do?
As the leader, you've got to meet that challenge.
Your employees still need to work.
They still need to make a living.
You can't just shut down because a mower's down.
What are you going to do?
You might have to go rip one.
You might have to invest in new equipment.
Finding an answer to the challenge.
Exceptional leaders possess a certain X factor that makes it seem as though they inherently know what to do.
That's not always the case.
I have walked the floors.
I have lost sleep.
I have had health issues because of stress and pressure.
I've not always known what to do.
According to Harvard Business School Professor Linda Hill,
Hill is one of the top experts in leadership.
But she said that star leaders aren't born with superhuman capabilities.
Leaders are not born.
They are made.
Vince Limbarty, a great football coach, added to that.
They are made through work.
Leaders are not born.
They are made.
It's been said, if you see a turtle on a fence post,
you know somebody put it there.
What does that have to do with us?
Just like someone placing that turtle on a fence post.
You did not, and I did not, arrive to where we are by ourself.
Someone helped us along the way.
Someone made an investment.
Someone gave of themselves their time, their energy, and their wisdom.
Leaders are not born.
They are made.
In my life, I have had some great men.
They invested in me.
And they deposited something in me to make me a better person, a better man,
a better husband, a better father, a better citizen,
and a better business owner.
That's part of being made.
You see, all of us are born exactly the same.
No hair, no teeth.
But we grow and we develop and we become.
So it is in our business.
We all start out green, not really knowing what to do or even how to do it all.
But there are people along the way that make an investment in us to help us grow, mature, and become.
Leaders are not born.
They are made.
Leaders must develop the ability to adapt.
What do I mean by that?
For example, your crew is out mowing and all of a sudden out of nowhere,
you lose a wheel motor or a hydro pump goes out.
Now you have to adapt to that situation in order to keep business going.
You have to be able to adapt if you want to grow.
You have to develop tenacity and fortitude.
You must develop a thick skin and a strong back and broad shoulders to hold your head up high
and learn what it takes to overcome.
Leadership is a process of self development.
Now I said leaders are not born.
They are made and they are made because of other people's investment.
But if you want to be a leader, you have to make an investment in yourself.
You have to learn the art of investing time, effort and energy into yourself to help you grow and mature and become.
It's a process and it does not happen overnight.
It takes time to become a good leader.
Even though men have invested in me, they did not teach me how to lead.
I had to learn that from my experiences and from facing adversity,
stepping outside of the spaces where I felt safe,
those things are powerful teachers stretching beyond your comfort zone,
willing to step into the unknown,
willing to walk through dark times of your life so you can enjoy the sunshine
when it comes.
You have to get comfortable being uncomfortable.
If you want to be a leader,
we learn from our experiences, we learn from our mistakes.
And yes, I have made my share of mistakes.
And I have created some of my own problems.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over again and expecting a different result.
You have to learn from your mistakes.
You have to learn from your failures.
You have to learn from your shortcomings.
If you want to be a good leader, you must become a good follower.
Let me say that again.
To be a good leader, you must become a good follower.
Now on social media, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook,
I see all of our industries leading influencers.
I follow them.
I watch their content.
I read people's comments and I read their replies.
Why?
Because I want to be a good leader and I can learn not only from my own experiences,
but I can learn from other people's experiences.
Leaders must be readers.
I ask you, what is the last two books that you have read?
I'm currently reading How to Win Friends and Influence People by Del Carnegie.
The last book I completed, I won.
LCR Media had their 24 days of giving during the holiday season.
You had to like a post, tag a friend, and share it.
I seen the book that were given away, the heart of a hustler.
I thought I want to be a hustler.
I liked the post, tagged a friend, shared it to my Instagram stories,
and I won the book.
When the book arrived at my house, that evening I sat down and started reading this book.
And I could not, for the life of me, put this book down.
I tried to go to bed the same time every night, I tried to get up the same time every morning.
But this night, I could not put the book down until I had read the entire book.
It's an immigrant's story.
It's a story about his journey, his upbringing, his struggles, his battles.
The things this man went through to find success in America, overcoming addictions, overcoming family situations and circumstances,
and to be a successful businessman today.
It is an amazing story.
I've been in business for 15 years, but I read this book because I want to be more, I want to do more, I want to possess more.
I want to be a hustler every single day.
If you have not read the book, I challenge you to find a copy of the heart of a hustler and read it,
and learn from it, and apply it to your life.
It'll light a fire in you just like it did me.
Leadership, do you have what it takes to be a great leader?
We're going to pause right here.
And next week, we're going to talk about eight characteristics of leadership.
I challenge you, be the best version of you that you possibly can be.
If it's meant to be, it's up to me.
You and I determine our altitude, how high we can go, how much success we can have.
Investing in our self, learning, reading, being mentored by other people.
All of these things help us become better leaders.
I wish you nothing but success, happiness.
Now, go be the best you can be.
I hope you have a great week.
We'll see you next week for a new video.