Employees Archives - Jeffrey Scott

You Can’t Put Lipstick on a Pig

Aug 4, 2026 | Blog, Employees, Growth Tips, Leadership, Management, Marketing, Peer Groups, Strategy, Training

A while back, I showed up to a formal party wearing a tuxedo. I thought it was a “black tie” event. Boy was I embarrassed when I showed up and saw everyone wearing simple cocktail attire.

My friend and I stood out, like two penguins. We scrambled to his car to take off our bowties and tried to dress down.

That experience taught me something about degrees of overdressing. While wearing a tuxedo may be too much, at work it’s important to be slightly over dressed than looking ragged or overly casual.

Our industry needs more owners who think the same way. Whether it’s for a networking event, or for your company dress code.

Because you can’t put lipstick on a pig, and you also can’t show up looking like one.

The Green Industry Loses a Titan & Innovator

Jul 30, 2026 | Blog, Employees, friendship, Leadership

This past week, the green industry lost a titan—and I lost my dad and hero, Joe Scott Jr.

Joe was an early industry innovator and a founding member of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD).

Decades ahead of his time, he designed, built, and serviced entire properties through his pool business. Along the way, he helped launch the careers of many people who became some of the best in our industry.

Since his passing, friends have shared stories that reveal the personal impact my father had on them. Below is one from Everett, my oldest friend and a former employee of our firm.

These stories have reminded me how powerful it is to see someone you respect through another person’s eyes. Your spouse, parent, employee, or friend have likely influenced others in ways you never fully understood.

Don’t wait until someone dies (or quits) to ask others what they value about that person. What you learn now can be eye-opening, grounding, and even deeply meaningful.

Unexpected Lessons From Our Epic Adventure in Tofino, Canada

Jun 24, 2026 | Employees, Growth Tips, Leadership, Management, Strategy

My wife and I recently spent two weeks traveling around Vancouver Island, including several days in Tofino, a remote community on the island’s rugged west coast.

Tofino is known for its expansive surfing beaches, old-growth forests and laid-back atmosphere—it was like no place I had ever visited.

We had a thrilling time. We helped deliver mail by seaplane to a nearby First Nations community on a neighboring island.

We Expanded Our Team – By Adding A Special Person

May 12, 2026 | Employees, Growth Tips, Leadership, Management, Strategy

I am proud to announce we have expanded our team with the addition of Kai Washington to the Jeffrey Scott Consulting organization — our first grandson!

We are starting Kai off as an intern, and from there the sky’s the limit.

His mom, our daughter Kate, has come a long way! For those of you who know me, you have heard some of the stories.

Storytelling: A Leadership Superpower with Jeffrey Scott. Learn to Teach, Lead, and Inspire Through Stories

May 4, 2026 | Employees, Growth Tips, Leadership, Marketing, Podcast Series: The Ultimate Landscape CEO, Time Management

If you've ever fumbled through a presentation, relied too heavily on data slides, or watched your team's eyes glaze over mid-meeting — this episode is your fix. Jeffrey Scott breaks down why storytelling is the most underrated leadership skill in the landscape...

Profit Sharing vs. Bonuses vs. Incentives: Which Actually Drives Performance

Jan 23, 2026 | Employee Retention, Employees, Incentives, Leadership, Management, Productivity, Strategy

I get questioned a lot from owners about their current reward system, and whether they should roll out a bonus, incentive or profit sharing system to boost performance.

They ask me things like “Should we start a profit sharing program?” “Do incentives actually work?” “Should I replace our Christmas bonus?”

What they are really asking is “How do I reward my team in a way that they will buy into, that actually changes behavior––without backfiring and hurting morale?”

The “Up Review”: A Leadership Tool Uncovering Hidden Opportunities

Dec 16, 2025 | Employee Retention, Employees, Leadership, Management, Strategy

Most annual reviews point in one direction: leaders evaluating employees.

Healthy companies flip the mirror and ask a harder question: How are we doing as leaders—and what is it like to work for our company?

That’s the purpose of an Up Review: a structured opportunity for employees to give feedback to leadership about what’s working, what’s not, and what could make the company even better in 2026.

Done right, it increases employee retention and surfaces new opportunities. Done poorly, it backfires.

Leadership & Growth Lessons from Aspire Software, with Mark Tipton and Eli Zevin

Dec 9, 2025 | Employees, Financial, Growth Tips, Leadership, Marketing, Peer Groups, Podcast Series: The Ultimate Landscape CEO

Join Jeffrey Scott for an insightful conversation with two leaders from Aspire: Mark Tipton, co-founder and former CEO, and Eli Zevin, the current General Manager. Mark shares his 12-year journey building Aspire from a skunkworks project into the leading landscape...

Happy Thanksgiving – 5 Ways to Be a Generous Leader

Nov 25, 2025 | Blog, Employee Retention, Employees, friendship, Growth Tips, Leadership

Thanksgiving has become a time to enjoy family, food, and football. But it can be much more powerful when you operate with the original intention of the holiday: giving thanks and helping others.

Here are five highly impactful ways to practice generous leadership this week and throughout the holiday season.

Teaching the Game of Business To Your People

Oct 21, 2025 | Employees, Financial, Leadership, Productivity, Training

If you asked your crews how much profit your company makes, what would they say?

Our research shows they’d guess a lot more than you actually do.

Most leaders are surprised when they hear their troops give the common answer of 50% net profit. That’s clever in a way — because it’s close to your gross margin — but it reveals a major disconnect.

Your team understands the cost of materials and labor in the field. But they don’t see the other costs that eat away at profits.

You and I know the truth: landscaping runs on high volatility and thin margins. Until your people understand that, you’ll never get them fully protecting the bottom line.

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