“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” ~Benjamin Franklin What do you want your front-line leaders to know? Have you told them? Have you taught them? More importantly, have you worked with them? Recently, I spoke to a group of leaders about the role of the Foreman in our work and what working as a Foreman in the field involves. I did some research with current Landscape Branch Managers and...
The word momentum isn’t used very often by the service industry. But this week I was a small part of an exciting Leader 2 Leader session with two separate groups of landscape employees. The meat of the class was watching a video on Momentum, and we discussed what momentum is, why it is important, and how to make it or lose it in the workplace. For a group of landscapers, momentum, or the strength of force, is...
A young mom, Sheila, took her only little girl to her first day of school. Her young daughter, naturally nervous, became scared and frightened at the thought of her mom leaving her. She cried and clung tightly to her mom’s leg. Leaving her daughter at school that first day took courage from them both. But Sheila remembered the things she had done in her own life that were scary … that she didn’t want to do...
I asked a group of landscape leaders how observation had played a role in their success today. Here is what they said: Intentional and deliberate communication: “I learned to slow down when I spoke to my bosses and team. I observed how my bosses took time to communicate deliberately and intentionally each time they spoke to me. That is powerful.” Leaders lose the opportunity to instruct others when they fail to thoughtfully and exactly communicate – be...
A few weeks ago, I was speaking to an audience of high-end landscape owners and leaders focusing on leadership growth and personal development. I discussed how each of us define our world by what we look for and expect to see. We can all learn something new and valuable, simply by watching/listening to someone other than ourselves. As an example, I used Chick-fil-A. They do not compare themselves with other quick service companies. The CFA experience is...
Credibility: the quality or power of inspiring belief All humans have a hardwired survival instinct and how we determine who or what totrust is basic survival. When we take on a leadership role, we earn credibility over time.Actions speak louder than words; people are influenced by what you do, not just whatyou say.Here are five ways to grow your credibility with your team: Lead by example. You can’t get around this one. Model what you want more of. Be...
It’s difficult when your boss does not recognize your hard work or, worse yet, they purposely ignore your good work. Some bosses will actively try to bring you and your efforts down. But why? Do they think it will somehow help the organization? When this happens, the most important question you need to ask is “How do I respond to this behavior?” Recently, I was at a leadership conference when the speaker mentioned an Australian term, the...
I had to be around 5 or 6 years old, my job, each Saturday was to dust the furniture and empty the trash. I really hated dusting, but at the trash detail I was good. I could see it, grab it, and remove it. Not so much with the dust. At such an early age, I rarely, if ever, noticed dust on the furniture. So, for the longest time, what I remembered most from those chores was...
“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” ~ Abraham Lincoln Have you ever had to teach one of your up-and-coming leaders to be quiet instead of talking all the time? Over the years, I have experienced leaders who are amazing chatterers. I have often set up a meeting to visit them with my 2-3 meeting items to cover. Much chattering happened, but I left the meetings with my...
Buy-In: To Own it When teams distrust their leader and can’t get on board with the instructions they give, people feel that it’s time to get another leader. When the leader talks too much and promises this-and-that and doesn’t deliver, it’s very hard to get buy-in. Why? John C. Maxwell writes, “Every message that people receive is filtered through the messenger who delivers it. If you consider the messenger to be credible, then you believe the message has...