Hello and welcome to the lawn hustle.
Season number one, episode number 11.
Thank you for tuning in today.
Today's episode is the second part of a two-part episode on leadership.
Do you have what it takes to be a great leader?
As business owners, we have to be leaders.
This week we discussed that great leaders have developed the ability to navigate through
any problem or situation that might arise and find the solution to those problems to
help your business continue to go forward and grow and be successful.
We also talked about delegation.
How delegation frees you up as the business owner to do what only you can do.
Delegation is a signing task to your crew members or to maybe your lead foreman and
giving them the space, time to complete the job without looking over their shoulder.
And if they fail or make a mistake, you're there to navigate and guide them through and
show them what needs to be done in order to be more successful the next time.
We also discussed that leaders are not born, they are made.
I said last week, if you see a turtle on a fence post, you know somebody put it there.
Somebody placed it there.
Somebody put forth an effort.
And so it is with the development of leaders, somebody makes an investment in you because
they see potential in you.
And then you make an investment in your team members, your foreman, your supervisors because
you see potential in them.
So in today's episode, we're going to discuss about eight different characteristics that
you need to develop as a business owner to find success that you desire.
Number one, authenticity.
Being genuine and true to who you are is fundamental to success in any role.
You have to become authentic, genuine.
You have to be a man of your word.
You have to be a man or woman of integrity that walks upright, that does what he or she
says they're going to do.
If you want your customers to trust you and connect with you, you have to be authentic.
What you see is what you get.
You have to create conditions for your success.
You cannot assume that somebody else will do it for you.
You have to show up and you have to show up as your best self.
Understanding how people perceive you is crucial.
I want my customers to see me as being authentic, genuine, honest.
A man with integrity, a man that does exactly what he says he's going to do.
Number two, curiosity.
Curiosity is a mindset.
It's about looking around the corner and exploring uncharted territories and trying
to understand the art of possible.
Now what does all of that mean?
Great leaders have an outside in perspective of their organization and their team.
That means they have the ability to look at situations and issues from the standpoint
of the external.
In other words, what do you want your customers to see when they see you?
Or what do you want your competitors in your area to see or think when they see you?
You see, I believe it's very important to have a good working relationship with competitors.
I use that word lightly because some of my competitors are some of my closest friends
in my area.
I feel like if I need them, I can make a phone call and they would be there for me.
I hope they know if they need me, I'm just a phone call away.
I will do whatever I can to help them.
That is being able to work outside of your comfort zone.
I felt competitors were supposed to be at each other's necks all the time and arguing
about jobs and prices and quotes and they called me for the estimate first and you got
the job.
That's so unnecessary.
That's added stress, added pressure, added tension that you don't need and I don't need.
Women are born curious.
That's why we are constantly telling them, no, no, no, don't touch that.
It's hot.
Don't play with that.
You'll get hurt.
Be careful you're going to fall.
They say you spend the first year and a half wishing your kids could talk and walk.
Then you spend the next 18 years wishing they would sit down and be quiet.
Children are curious.
They grow by experience.
They're inquisitive.
They explore their surroundings.
We need to take a cue from them.
Be open to new experiences.
Be open to people outside of your immediate circle of influence or outside of your function
and your industry.
Don't be afraid to ask basic and naive questions.
Not expensively.
What could we be doing and what could we be doing better?
As a business owner, you have to be curious.
You have to think outside of your box.
You have to be willing to stretch outside of your comfort zone.
Number three, antelitical prowlness.
You have to develop the ability to break down complex problems and identify the root causes.
In other words, you don't want to put a bandaid on a situation that requires surgery for you
to overcome.
No matter what the problem is, you have to be antelitical in your thinking.
Thinking outside of the box.
Thinking beyond your comfort zone.
Looking, reaching, stretching.
To find solutions and not only the solution, but getting all the way down to the root cause
of the problem.
You don't take an aspirin if you have cancer.
You go through chemotherapy.
You go through radiation.
You might go through surgeries.
Like you're getting to the root of all of the symptoms, the upset stomach, the having
trouble eating or swallowing, digesting.
Those are just problems related to the more complex situation.
And so it is with running a business.
If your team isn't functioning cohesively, what is the problem?
I found out a long time ago.
If John has a problem with Tom and John has a problem with Tim and John has a problem
with Brandon and John has a problem with Andy, John is probably the problem.
He's probably the root issue that creates all the symptoms within your organization.
Trusting your gut is not enough.
You need to develop analytical skills by focusing on cause and effect.
You got to make sound decisions.
And being able to make sound decisions depends upon your expertise and your ethical judgment.
Number four, adaptability.
It's my way or the highway.
Thinking is not how a leader should think.
The world is changing faster than it used to and part by the emerging technology, artificial
intelligence.
And as a result of this fast-paced change in our world, we as business owners need to
be able to adapt to the changes in our surroundings if we're going to stay on the cutting edge.
Now you can do business as usual and you can go about your business the way you've always
done it, but you're going to be left behind.
Let me give you an example in lawn care.
Battery-powered equipment.
Battery-powered trimmers, blowers, headstrimmers, and mowers.
It's the future.
If we are not willing to adapt to the future, we're going to be left behind.
So you have to have some vision.
It is said in Scripture, without a vision, people will perish.
You can apply that to your life.
You can apply that to your business.
I can apply it to my life personally and I can apply it to professional lawn maintenance.
If I as the leader have no vision for my company, no vision, no goals, no clear direction, if
you don't know where you want to go, how will you ever know when you get there?
So you have to be able to adapt.
You need to take on new thoughts, new assignments, seek out new experiences that demand flexibility
and venture beyond your comfort zone.
Now I was one that said, I'll never use battery-powered equipment until I won a battery-powered headstrimmer.
And I used it and it cuts good, does a great job.
And I'm starting to lean more and more towards battery-powered.
And then Echo Means Business gave me a pink blower for my breast cancer awareness campaign
every October.
And I love the turbo feature on that blower.
You push the turbo and it kicks the wind speed up a notch and it does a great job.
So I'm trying to be flexible.
I'm trying to be adaptable.
I'm trying to think outside of my comfort zone where I've always operated.
Work in new environments, stretching yourself, expand your personal growth and development.
Number five, you need to be creative.
Creativity, any ideal that is new and useful to your organization is creativity.
Well we've always done it this way.
That might be the problem.
Try something new.
Be creative.
The possibilities will immediately change you when you begin to look at it at a different
angle.
Establish an environment that nurtures creativity.
That's why I said delegation is giving your team members time and opportunity to complete
a task.
It gives them a chance to do things that maybe they have never done before.
And that allows them to develop and grow and find personal success stories.
They might not do it the way you would have done it, but if the job gets done and it is
done right and the customer is happy and you get a check when it's completed, even though
they didn't do it the way you did, you are allowing creativity to work within your organization.
When different viewpoints rubs up against each other, that is when creativity flourishes.
Iron sharpens iron.
So encourage and promote diverse perspectives.
Embrace the concept of learning from failure.
Number six.
You need to have ambiguity, dealing with priorities that feel equally important to every member
of your team.
Something that X causes Y and as a result, they may not overlook the interplay of different
dynamics.
Number seven be resilient.
Can spell trouble in today's dynamic and competitive business environment.
You need to exhibit the resilience.
If you are very enough course, you need to know how to recruit, get input from others
and stay the course.
Be resilient through breakdowns, through finance shortages, through staffing issues.
Be resilient and be determined.
Number eight.
Show empathy.
Be resilient and connect with others.
It is a trait of strong leadership.
Leaders must foster relationships that build trust and that actively engage with their
team members.
Step into the shoes of your team members.
It's not always if you walked a mile in my shoes, you would understand.
How about you put their shoes on and understand where they're coming from?
Some changes need to be made with you in order to be a great leader.
It's not do as I say all the time.
It's do as I do.
So I want to sum this all up by asking you the question again.
Do you have what it takes to be a great leader?
We all want to be great.
I want to be the best in my town.
Somebody's got to be the best.
It might as well be me and if it's meant to be, it's up to me.
Now go be great.
Go be resilient.
Go show empathy.
Go show comfort.
Be creative.
Be authentic.
Be curious.
Step outside of your comfort zone and be the greatest that you can be.
Thank you for listening to the Lawn Hustle.
Tune in again next week for another episode.
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