Welcome back to another episode of the lawn hustle.
I have been doing a series of podcasts that I
have titled the CEO Series. The first episode
we did, we talked about hiring, hiring people
that want to stay. The next episode we talked
about pricing. get paid what you are worth. Then
we talked about delegation because you can't
do it all. If you're trying to scale your business.
And then last week, we talked about systems that
create consistency. In this final episode of
the CEO series, we want to talk about leadership.
So I welcome you back to the Lawn Hustle, the
podcast where we talk about building better businesses,
becoming better leaders, and taking the green
industry to the next level. Leadership. Everything
rises and falls on leadership. If you think you're
a leader and nobody's following you, you're just
taking a walk. So we want to talk about the importance
of being a leader in your business. I'm not talking
about being the boss. Not talking about having
your name on the truck. Not being the person
who makes every decision. I'm talking about real
leadership. Because there is a difference between
owning a business and leading a business. Anybody
can buy a mower and a trailer and own a business.
But not everyone is leading their business. And
that makes the difference. If you want to build
a company that lasts, not just a business that
keeps you busy, you have to learn how to lead.
Today we're going to talk about three things.
Number one, lead with purpose. Number two, Number
three, build a business that lasts. So let's
get into it. Let's start with purpose. Because
leadership starts with knowing where you're going
and why you're going there. A lawn care business
starts because people love working outdoors.
Or they like mowing. They like landscaping. Building
things. Maybe they wanted more freedom. Maybe
they wanted to work for themselves. And there's
nothing wrong with that. But eventually, your
business gets bigger. You hire people. You add
clients. You buy more equipment. You have more
expenses. You have more problems. And suddenly
you realize you can't be the person doing everything
anymore. That's where leadership becomes critical.
Your team needs you to know where you are going.
What do we stand for? What does success look
like? And most importantly, Why does what we
do matter? Because your employees aren't just
showing up to mow grass. They're representing
your company. They're interacting with your clients.
They're driving your equipment. They're making
decisions when you're not around. And if you
don't understand the mission, they're going to
make decisions based on their own standards.
And that's dangerous. Your job as a leader is
to establish the standard. Your team will follow
your example. Here's something every business
owner needs to understand. Your team is watching
you. They're watching how you talk to customers.
They're watching how you handle problems. They're
watching if you are honest. How you react when
something goes wrong. Whether you show up on
time. Whether you keep your word. They're watching
whether you take responsibility. You cannot demand
professionalism from your team. when you act
unprofessional. You can't demand accountability
while you make excuses. You can't demand a great
attitude while you are constantly complaining.
Leadership starts at the top. So if you want
a team that communicates well, you communicate
well. If you want a team that takes pride in
their work, you take pride in your work. If you
want a team that is dependable, Leadership isn't
just telling people what to do. Leadership is
showing people what good looks like. So you have
to develop your team. Now let's talk about developing
people. One of the biggest mistakes business
owners make is hiring someone and expecting them
to automatically know how to do the job. You
hire somebody, you give them a mower, point them
towards a property and say, go get it done. Then
you're frustrated. when they don't meet your
expectations. Here's the problem. You didn't
train them. You didn't show them. You're not
leading them. You gave them responsibility without
them getting the tools they needed. to succeed.
If you want a better team, you have to develop
your people. Teach them. Coach them. Correct
them. Encourage them. And then give them opportunities
to grow. Don't just tell an employee, That's
wrong. Explain to them why it's wrong. Show them
the correct way and let them do it. And then
give them feedback. That's how people improve.
We've already done a whole podcast series on
delegation. But I want to hit on it briefly again
today. Delegation is leadership. This connects
directly to delegation. Being a good leader connects
directly to delegation. As your business grows,
you have to stop asking, how can I get all of
this done? And you have to start asking, who
can I develop to help me get this done? That's
a completely different mindset. The goal isn't
to create employees who constantly need you.
The goal is to create people who can make good
decisions without you standing over their shoulder.
That, my friends, is leadership. Maybe someone
starts as a mower. They become a crew leader.
Then a field supervisor. Maybe an operations
manager. That is development And here's a beautiful
bit the beautiful part When you develop people
You're not just building employees You're building
future leaders Don't be afraid to let people
Sometimes owners hold back because they're afraid
that if I teach someone everything they know,
that person might leave. But here's the way I
look at it. What if you don't develop your employees
and they stay? Don't be afraid if I train them
and I teach them and I give them everything they
need to succeed that they're going to leave my
business because there's more danger in not training
them and they stay because they are comfortable
with no responsibility, no accountability. You
could end up with an employee who's been with
you for five years, but hasn't grown any. That's
not leadership. You should want people around
you to become better. Better workers, better
communicators, better problem solvers, better
leaders. And yes, sometimes people will eventually
move on. I've lost a few great employees. That's
just part of business. But if you create an environment
where people can grow, learn and succeed, you're
going to attract. better people because people
want to work for a company that will train them,
that will teach them, that will release them
to do the job that needs to be done. Build a
business that doesn't depend Now that's a big
one. Build a business that lasts. Ask yourself
this question. If I disappeared from the business
for 30 days, what would happen? Would everything
fall apart? Would customers start calling? Would
nobody know what to do? Would employees constantly
need answers? Would scheduling stop? Would estimates
stop? Would money stop coming in? If the answer
is yes, congratulations, you've built yourself
a good job, but not a business. And there's really
no shame in that. But if your goal is to build
something bigger, you've got to change that.
You need systems because systems create consistency.
You need processes. How do you do what needs
to be done? You need training because if you
don't train them, they don't know what's in your
head. That's why I said last week you need systems
that are documented so it holds the employee
accountable to the system. If they sign off on
it, that they watch the mowing video or they
watch the hedge trimming video. And then there's
an issue when you call them in and not blast
them out of the water, but you talk to them about
the situation. You can say you signed off, that
you watched this video. Now, what is there that
I can do to help you understand how to do this
better? That's leadership. You need communication.
Your business needs to operate without you touching
every single thing. Because eventually, your
job as the owner shouldn't be to do everything.
Your job should be to build the machine and let
the machine function. Culture matters. It isn't
something that you put on a poster in the office.
Culture is what happens when you're not there.
It's how your employees teach each other. It's
how they treat customers. It's how they handle
mistakes. It's how well they clean up after themselves.
Whether they care about the property. they take
ownership and here's the important part you don't
create culture with words you create it with
action we reinforce the behavior that you want
you address the behavior that you don't Reinforce
what you want. Address what you don't want. And
consistently communicate your expectations. Because
what you allow becomes the standard. Well, I
don't feel like dealing with that today. You
just changed the standard. I'll deal with him
next week or deal with her tomorrow. You just
accepted whatever it is that they've done. And
now it's the standard. Because while you allow,
becomes a standard operating procedure. Leadership
requires accountability. Can I say that again?
Leadership requires accountability. A good leader
isn't somebody who avoids difficult conversations.
A good leader has them. Sometimes they're hard.
But you have to endure the hard things in order
to enjoy the rewards of a well functioning operation.
Sometimes you have to tell someone this isn't
good enough. But accountability means that you're
not trying to tear them down. You're trying to
show them. You're trying to train them. You're
trying to teach them. Accountability means you're
holding people to a standard while helping them
understand how to reach it. You can be firm without
being disrespectful. You can disagree without
being disagreeable. You can hold people accountable
and still care about them. In fact, that's part
of leadership. Because if you don't hold people
accountable, everything becomes accepted. And
eventually your best employee will start asking,
Why am I working so hard when nobody else cares?
And that's when culture begins to fall apart.
Here's what I want you to think about. Don't
build your business just for next. build it for
the next five years. Build it for the next 10
years. Build something that has value beyond
you. A business that has strong relationships,
strong systems, strong people, strong financials,
and a strong reputation. That's a business that
can last. And maybe someday your kids will be
involved. Maybe you'll sell it. That is what
I am trying to do. Build it so I can sell it.
Scale it so I can sell it. I want to build my
business beyond me so that it is still operating
and functioning when I'm not in the picture.
I'm 61 years old. Sooner rather than later, I'm
going to retire. But 10 years from now, I still
want professional lawn maintenance to be operating
and functioning in a professional manner. Because
I took time to lead. I took time to train. I
took time to teach. I took time to invest in
people and all that I've done is trying to build
a business that is beyond me. It's bigger than
me. Maybe someday you can pass it on to your
son. Sell it. Pass it on to another leader. Maybe
it becomes a company that employs dozens of people.
Whatever your vision is, start building for that
vision right now. Don't wait until you have everything
together. You start putting little pieces together.
It's all those little pieces that you put together
that finalizes the big puzzle. So start building
it right now. So here's the challenge this week.
I want you to sit down with me with a piece of
paper and answer five questions. Number one,
where's my business going? Because if you don't
know where your business is going, how will you
know when you get there? Number two, does my
team know where we're going? Am I communicating?
Am I explaining? Am I teaching? Am I training?
Am I leading? Number three, who on my team am
I intentionally developing? Number four, what
am I still doing that someone else should be
doing? And number five, if I stepped away for
30 days, would my business continue to operate?
Don't just answer these questions. Do something
about the answers. That's where leadership begins.
At the end of the day, leadership isn't about
having people work for you. It's about helping
people become better because they work for you.
Lead with purpose. Develop people. systems that
create consistency, create accountability, set
the standard, build something that can outlast
you. Because the goal isn't just to build a bigger
lawn care company. The goal is to build a better
company. One that provides opportunities. One
that serves customers well. One that develops
great people. One that can still be standing
years from now. That is leadership. That's building
a legacy. And that, my friends, is the hustle.
Thank you for listening to the lawn hustle. If
this episode has helped you, share it with another
lawn care business owner who needs to hear it.
And remember, you need to work on your business
Not just in your business And I'll see you on
the next episode keep hustling keep growing and
keep