The older I get, the more craziness I experience. 25 years ago I was married, and we went to Martha’s Vineyard for our honeymoon, and then got blown off the island by a hurricane. 15 years later while celebrating my anniversary in the Hamptons, Superstorm Sandy came...
Do leaders make good followers, and do followers make good leaders? Many entrepreneurs get into business because they don’t want to (or can’t) work for anyone else. They have either: Always worked for themselves (I know many great entrepreneurs who started at age 16...
I was asked recently to give feedback to Landscape Management Magazine on how to ensure that culture is more than a buzzword. Even though I wrote the book on this topic, Become A Destination Company ®, I wanted to gather fresh anecdotes from my clients on how they...
A single culture killer can disrupt the performance of everyone on your team, if you let that person's behavior persist. A culture killer is a person who's strong personality plus bad behavior combine to form a poison that slowly (or quickly) infects the output and...
Should you hire a COO, or even a CEO, to run your business and to help you grow it to the next level? (Note: COO stands for Chief Operating Officer) My good friend and client George Tucker, owner of LanDesign in St Louis, has hired BOTH for his business. Why does one...
I found this fascinating article in The Wall Street Journal on a quarterback from 50 years ago who changed how football is played today because he gathered data and statistics to inform his strategy, rather than using his gut instinct. Virgil Carter painstakingly...
There are five levels of financial management in the landscape industry. They range from Terrible, Poor, Good, Better to Best. Where does your company operate financially? The following framework will help you identify where your company stands from a financial...
As a company grows larger, sometimes the clients suffer. We all know that successful owners rely on their people, their systems and a great culture to hold everything together. But is that enough? As your company scales, who is truly looking out for the clients' best...
Over the past two months, I have been coaching leaders on how to inoculate themselves from the predictable bad news. Your employees need the same. If you have watched my videos you have heard me talk about becoming a radio station for your employees. They hear so...
Are you using technology to create a competitive advantage? If not, you will get passed by your competition, eventually. I guarantee it! Join me for our FREE Contractor Conversation Webinar Series, this Wednesday, February 7 @ 1pm, EST: Scale Your Landscape Business...
