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Hello and welcome to the lawn hustle.

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Season number one, episode number 11.

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Thank you for tuning in today.

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Today's episode is the second part of a two-part episode on leadership.

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Do you have what it takes to be a great leader?

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As business owners, we have to be leaders.

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This week we discussed that great leaders have developed the ability to navigate through

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any problem or situation that might arise and find the solution to those problems to

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help your business continue to go forward and grow and be successful.

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We also talked about delegation.

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How delegation frees you up as the business owner to do what only you can do.

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Delegation is a signing task to your crew members or to maybe your lead foreman and

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giving them the space, time to complete the job without looking over their shoulder.

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And if they fail or make a mistake, you're there to navigate and guide them through and

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show them what needs to be done in order to be more successful the next time.

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We also discussed that leaders are not born, they are made.

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I said last week, if you see a turtle on a fence post, you know somebody put it there.

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Somebody placed it there.

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Somebody put forth an effort.

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And so it is with the development of leaders, somebody makes an investment in you because

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they see potential in you.

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And then you make an investment in your team members, your foreman, your supervisors because

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you see potential in them.

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So in today's episode, we're going to discuss about eight different characteristics that

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you need to develop as a business owner to find success that you desire.

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Number one, authenticity.

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Being genuine and true to who you are is fundamental to success in any role.

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You have to become authentic, genuine.

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You have to be a man of your word.

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You have to be a man or woman of integrity that walks upright, that does what he or she

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says they're going to do.

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If you want your customers to trust you and connect with you, you have to be authentic.

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What you see is what you get.

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You have to create conditions for your success.

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You cannot assume that somebody else will do it for you.

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You have to show up and you have to show up as your best self.

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Understanding how people perceive you is crucial.

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I want my customers to see me as being authentic, genuine, honest.

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A man with integrity, a man that does exactly what he says he's going to do.

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Number two, curiosity.

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Curiosity is a mindset.

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It's about looking around the corner and exploring uncharted territories and trying

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to understand the art of possible.

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Now what does all of that mean?

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Great leaders have an outside in perspective of their organization and their team.

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That means they have the ability to look at situations and issues from the standpoint

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of the external.

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In other words, what do you want your customers to see when they see you?

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Or what do you want your competitors in your area to see or think when they see you?

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You see, I believe it's very important to have a good working relationship with competitors.

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I use that word lightly because some of my competitors are some of my closest friends

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in my area.

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I feel like if I need them, I can make a phone call and they would be there for me.

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I hope they know if they need me, I'm just a phone call away.

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I will do whatever I can to help them.

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That is being able to work outside of your comfort zone.

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I felt competitors were supposed to be at each other's necks all the time and arguing

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about jobs and prices and quotes and they called me for the estimate first and you got

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the job.

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That's so unnecessary.

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That's added stress, added pressure, added tension that you don't need and I don't need.

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Women are born curious.

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That's why we are constantly telling them, no, no, no, don't touch that.

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It's hot.

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Don't play with that.

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You'll get hurt.

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Be careful you're going to fall.

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They say you spend the first year and a half wishing your kids could talk and walk.

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Then you spend the next 18 years wishing they would sit down and be quiet.

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Children are curious.

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They grow by experience.

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They're inquisitive.

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They explore their surroundings.

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We need to take a cue from them.

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Be open to new experiences.

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Be open to people outside of your immediate circle of influence or outside of your function

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and your industry.

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Don't be afraid to ask basic and naive questions.

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Not expensively.

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What could we be doing and what could we be doing better?

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As a business owner, you have to be curious.

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You have to think outside of your box.

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You have to be willing to stretch outside of your comfort zone.

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Number three, antelitical prowlness.

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You have to develop the ability to break down complex problems and identify the root causes.

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In other words, you don't want to put a bandaid on a situation that requires surgery for you

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to overcome.

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No matter what the problem is, you have to be antelitical in your thinking.

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Thinking outside of the box.

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Thinking beyond your comfort zone.

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Looking, reaching, stretching.

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To find solutions and not only the solution, but getting all the way down to the root cause

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of the problem.

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You don't take an aspirin if you have cancer.

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You go through chemotherapy.

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You go through radiation.

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You might go through surgeries.

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Like you're getting to the root of all of the symptoms, the upset stomach, the having

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trouble eating or swallowing, digesting.

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Those are just problems related to the more complex situation.

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And so it is with running a business.

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If your team isn't functioning cohesively, what is the problem?

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I found out a long time ago.

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If John has a problem with Tom and John has a problem with Tim and John has a problem

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with Brandon and John has a problem with Andy, John is probably the problem.

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He's probably the root issue that creates all the symptoms within your organization.

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Trusting your gut is not enough.

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You need to develop analytical skills by focusing on cause and effect.

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You got to make sound decisions.

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And being able to make sound decisions depends upon your expertise and your ethical judgment.

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Number four, adaptability.

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It's my way or the highway.

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Thinking is not how a leader should think.

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The world is changing faster than it used to and part by the emerging technology, artificial

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intelligence.

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And as a result of this fast-paced change in our world, we as business owners need to

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be able to adapt to the changes in our surroundings if we're going to stay on the cutting edge.

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Now you can do business as usual and you can go about your business the way you've always

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done it, but you're going to be left behind.

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Let me give you an example in lawn care.

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Battery-powered equipment.

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Battery-powered trimmers, blowers, headstrimmers, and mowers.

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It's the future.

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If we are not willing to adapt to the future, we're going to be left behind.

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So you have to have some vision.

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It is said in Scripture, without a vision, people will perish.

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You can apply that to your life.

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You can apply that to your business.

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I can apply it to my life personally and I can apply it to professional lawn maintenance.

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If I as the leader have no vision for my company, no vision, no goals, no clear direction, if

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you don't know where you want to go, how will you ever know when you get there?

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So you have to be able to adapt.

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You need to take on new thoughts, new assignments, seek out new experiences that demand flexibility

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and venture beyond your comfort zone.

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Now I was one that said, I'll never use battery-powered equipment until I won a battery-powered headstrimmer.

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And I used it and it cuts good, does a great job.

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And I'm starting to lean more and more towards battery-powered.

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And then Echo Means Business gave me a pink blower for my breast cancer awareness campaign

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every October.

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And I love the turbo feature on that blower.

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You push the turbo and it kicks the wind speed up a notch and it does a great job.

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So I'm trying to be flexible.

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I'm trying to be adaptable.

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I'm trying to think outside of my comfort zone where I've always operated.

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Work in new environments, stretching yourself, expand your personal growth and development.

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Number five, you need to be creative.

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Creativity, any ideal that is new and useful to your organization is creativity.

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Well we've always done it this way.

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That might be the problem.

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Try something new.

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Be creative.

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The possibilities will immediately change you when you begin to look at it at a different

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angle.

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Establish an environment that nurtures creativity.

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That's why I said delegation is giving your team members time and opportunity to complete

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a task.

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It gives them a chance to do things that maybe they have never done before.

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And that allows them to develop and grow and find personal success stories.

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They might not do it the way you would have done it, but if the job gets done and it is

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done right and the customer is happy and you get a check when it's completed, even though

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they didn't do it the way you did, you are allowing creativity to work within your organization.

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When different viewpoints rubs up against each other, that is when creativity flourishes.

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Iron sharpens iron.

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So encourage and promote diverse perspectives.

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Embrace the concept of learning from failure.

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Number six.

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You need to have ambiguity, dealing with priorities that feel equally important to every member

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of your team.

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Something that X causes Y and as a result, they may not overlook the interplay of different

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dynamics.

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Number seven be resilient.

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Can spell trouble in today's dynamic and competitive business environment.

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You need to exhibit the resilience.

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If you are very enough course, you need to know how to recruit, get input from others

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and stay the course.

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Be resilient through breakdowns, through finance shortages, through staffing issues.

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Be resilient and be determined.

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Number eight.

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Show empathy.

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Be resilient and connect with others.

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It is a trait of strong leadership.

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Leaders must foster relationships that build trust and that actively engage with their

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team members.

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Step into the shoes of your team members.

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It's not always if you walked a mile in my shoes, you would understand.

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How about you put their shoes on and understand where they're coming from?

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Some changes need to be made with you in order to be a great leader.

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It's not do as I say all the time.

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It's do as I do.

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So I want to sum this all up by asking you the question again.

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Do you have what it takes to be a great leader?

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We all want to be great.

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I want to be the best in my town.

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Somebody's got to be the best.

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It might as well be me and if it's meant to be, it's up to me.

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Now go be great.

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Go be resilient.

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Go show empathy.

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Go show comfort.

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Be creative.

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Be authentic.

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Be curious.

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Step outside of your comfort zone and be the greatest that you can be.

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Thank you for listening to the Lawn Hustle.

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Tune in again next week for another episode.

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I appreciate you following us on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and subscribe to our YouTube

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channel.