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Welcome back to another episode of the lawn hustle.
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I have been doing a series of podcasts that I
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have titled the CEO Series. The first episode
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we did, we talked about hiring, hiring people
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that want to stay. The next episode we talked
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about pricing. get paid what you are worth. Then
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we talked about delegation because you can't
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do it all. If you're trying to scale your business.
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And then last week, we talked about systems that
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create consistency. In this final episode of
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the CEO series, we want to talk about leadership.
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So I welcome you back to the Lawn Hustle, the
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podcast where we talk about building better businesses,
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becoming better leaders, and taking the green
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industry to the next level. Leadership. Everything
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rises and falls on leadership. If you think you're
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a leader and nobody's following you, you're just
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taking a walk. So we want to talk about the importance
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of being a leader in your business. I'm not talking
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about being the boss. Not talking about having
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your name on the truck. Not being the person
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who makes every decision. I'm talking about real
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leadership. Because there is a difference between
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owning a business and leading a business. Anybody
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can buy a mower and a trailer and own a business.
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But not everyone is leading their business. And
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that makes the difference. If you want to build
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a company that lasts, not just a business that
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keeps you busy, you have to learn how to lead.
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Today we're going to talk about three things.
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Number one, lead with purpose. Number two, Number
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three, build a business that lasts. So let's
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get into it. Let's start with purpose. Because
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leadership starts with knowing where you're going
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and why you're going there. A lawn care business
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starts because people love working outdoors.
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Or they like mowing. They like landscaping. Building
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things. Maybe they wanted more freedom. Maybe
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they wanted to work for themselves. And there's
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nothing wrong with that. But eventually, your
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business gets bigger. You hire people. You add
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clients. You buy more equipment. You have more
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expenses. You have more problems. And suddenly
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you realize you can't be the person doing everything
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anymore. That's where leadership becomes critical.
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Your team needs you to know where you are going.
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What do we stand for? What does success look
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like? And most importantly, Why does what we
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do matter? Because your employees aren't just
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showing up to mow grass. They're representing
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your company. They're interacting with your clients.
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They're driving your equipment. They're making
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decisions when you're not around. And if you
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don't understand the mission, they're going to
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make decisions based on their own standards.
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And that's dangerous. Your job as a leader is
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to establish the standard. Your team will follow
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your example. Here's something every business
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owner needs to understand. Your team is watching
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you. They're watching how you talk to customers.
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They're watching how you handle problems. They're
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watching if you are honest. How you react when
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something goes wrong. Whether you show up on
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time. Whether you keep your word. They're watching
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whether you take responsibility. You cannot demand
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professionalism from your team. when you act
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unprofessional. You can't demand accountability
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while you make excuses. You can't demand a great
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attitude while you are constantly complaining.
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Leadership starts at the top. So if you want
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a team that communicates well, you communicate
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well. If you want a team that takes pride in
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their work, you take pride in your work. If you
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want a team that is dependable, Leadership isn't
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just telling people what to do. Leadership is
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showing people what good looks like. So you have
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to develop your team.
Load full transcript
Now let's talk about developing
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people. One of the biggest mistakes business
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owners make is hiring someone and expecting them
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to automatically know how to do the job. You
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hire somebody, you give them a mower, point them
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towards a property and say, go get it done. Then
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you're frustrated. when they don't meet your
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expectations. Here's the problem. You didn't
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train them. You didn't show them. You're not
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leading them. You gave them responsibility without
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them getting the tools they needed. to succeed.
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If you want a better team, you have to develop
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your people. Teach them. Coach them. Correct
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them. Encourage them. And then give them opportunities
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to grow. Don't just tell an employee, That's
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wrong. Explain to them why it's wrong. Show them
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the correct way and let them do it. And then
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give them feedback. That's how people improve.
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We've already done a whole podcast series on
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delegation. But I want to hit on it briefly again
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today. Delegation is leadership. This connects
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directly to delegation. Being a good leader connects
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directly to delegation. As your business grows,
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you have to stop asking, how can I get all of
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this done? And you have to start asking, who
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can I develop to help me get this done? That's
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a completely different mindset. The goal isn't
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to create employees who constantly need you.
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The goal is to create people who can make good
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decisions without you standing over their shoulder.
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That, my friends, is leadership. Maybe someone
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starts as a mower. They become a crew leader.
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Then a field supervisor. Maybe an operations
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manager. That is development And here's a beautiful
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bit the beautiful part When you develop people
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You're not just building employees You're building
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future leaders Don't be afraid to let people
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Sometimes owners hold back because they're afraid
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that if I teach someone everything they know,
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that person might leave. But here's the way I
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look at it. What if you don't develop your employees
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and they stay? Don't be afraid if I train them
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and I teach them and I give them everything they
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need to succeed that they're going to leave my
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business because there's more danger in not training
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them and they stay because they are comfortable
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with no responsibility, no accountability. You
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could end up with an employee who's been with
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you for five years, but hasn't grown any. That's
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not leadership. You should want people around
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you to become better. Better workers, better
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communicators, better problem solvers, better
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leaders. And yes, sometimes people will eventually
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move on. I've lost a few great employees. That's
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just part of business. But if you create an environment
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where people can grow, learn and succeed, you're
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going to attract. better people because people
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want to work for a company that will train them,
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that will teach them, that will release them
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to do the job that needs to be done. Build a
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business that doesn't depend Now that's a big
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one. Build a business that lasts. Ask yourself
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this question. If I disappeared from the business
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for 30 days, what would happen? Would everything
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fall apart? Would customers start calling? Would
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nobody know what to do? Would employees constantly
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need answers? Would scheduling stop? Would estimates
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stop? Would money stop coming in? If the answer
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is yes, congratulations, you've built yourself
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a good job, but not a business. And there's really
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no shame in that. But if your goal is to build
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something bigger, you've got to change that.
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You need systems because systems create consistency.
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You need processes. How do you do what needs
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to be done? You need training because if you
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don't train them, they don't know what's in your
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head. That's why I said last week you need systems
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that are
documented so it holds the employee
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accountable to the system. If they sign off on
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it, that they watch the mowing video or they
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watch the hedge trimming video. And then there's
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an issue when you call them in and not blast
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them out of the water, but you talk to them about
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the situation. You can say you signed off, that
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you watched this video. Now, what is there that
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I can do to help you understand how to do this
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better? That's leadership. You need communication.
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Your business needs to operate without you touching
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every single thing. Because eventually, your
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job as the owner shouldn't be to do everything.
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Your job should be to build the machine and let
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the machine function. Culture matters. It isn't
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something that you put on a poster in the office.
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Culture is what happens when you're not there.
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It's how your employees teach each other. It's
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how they treat customers. It's how they handle
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mistakes. It's how well they clean up after themselves.
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Whether they care about the property. they take
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ownership and here's the important part you don't
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create culture with words you create it with
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action we reinforce the behavior that you want
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you address the behavior that you don't Reinforce
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what you want. Address what you don't want. And
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consistently communicate your expectations. Because
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what you allow becomes the standard. Well, I
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don't feel like dealing with that today. You
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just changed the standard. I'll deal with him
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next week or deal with her tomorrow. You just
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accepted whatever it is that they've done. And
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now it's the standard. Because while you allow,
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becomes a standard operating procedure. Leadership
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requires accountability. Can I say that again?
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Leadership requires accountability. A good leader
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isn't somebody who avoids difficult conversations.
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A good leader has them. Sometimes they're hard.
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But you have to endure the hard things in
order
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to enjoy the rewards of a well functioning operation.
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Sometimes you have to tell someone this isn't
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good enough. But accountability means that you're
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not trying to tear them down. You're trying to
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show them. You're trying to train them. You're
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trying to teach them. Accountability means you're
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holding people to a standard while helping them
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understand how to reach it. You can be firm without
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being disrespectful. You can disagree without
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being disagreeable. You can hold people accountable
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and still care about them. In fact, that's part
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of leadership. Because if you don't hold people
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accountable, everything becomes accepted. And
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eventually your best employee will start asking,
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Why am I working so hard when nobody else cares?
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And that's when culture begins to fall apart.
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Here's what I want you to think about. Don't
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build your business just for next. build it for
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the next five years. Build it for the next 10
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years. Build something that has value beyond
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you. A business that has strong relationships,
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strong systems, strong people, strong financials,
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and a strong reputation. That's a business that
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can last. And maybe someday your kids will be
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involved. Maybe you'll sell it. That is what
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I am trying to do. Build it so I can sell it.
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Scale it so I can sell it. I want to build my
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business beyond me so that it is still operating
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and functioning when I'm not in the picture.
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I'm 61 years old. Sooner rather than later, I'm
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going to retire. But 10 years from now, I still
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want professional lawn maintenance to be operating
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and functioning in a professional manner. Because
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I took time to lead. I took time to train. I
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took time to teach. I took time to invest in
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people and all that I've done is trying to build
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a business that is beyond me. It's bigger than
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me. Maybe someday you can pass it on to your
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son. Sell it. Pass it on to another leader. Maybe
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it becomes a company that employs dozens of people.
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Whatever your vision is, start building for that
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vision right now. Don't wait until you have everything
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together. You start putting little pieces together.
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It's all those little pieces that you put together
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that finalizes the big puzzle. So start building
00:27:39.369 --> 00:27:48.509
it right now. So here's the challenge this week.
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I want you to sit down with me with a piece of
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paper and answer five questions. Number one,
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where's my business going? Because if you don't
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know where your business is going, how will you
00:28:16.089 --> 00:28:24.450
know when you get there? Number two, does my
00:28:24.450 --> 00:28:28.970
team know where we're going? Am I communicating?
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Am I explaining? Am I teaching? Am I training?
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Am I leading? Number three, who on my team am
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I intentionally developing? Number four, what
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am I still doing that someone else should be
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doing? And number five, if I stepped away for
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30 days, would my business continue to operate?
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Don't just answer these questions. Do something
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about the answers. That's where leadership begins.
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At the end of the day, leadership isn't about
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having people work for you. It's about helping
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people become better because they work for you.
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Lead with purpose. Develop people. systems that
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create consistency, create accountability, set
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the standard, build something that can outlast
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you. Because the goal isn't just to build a bigger
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lawn care company. The goal is to build a better
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company. One that provides opportunities. One
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that serves customers well. One that develops
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great people. One that can still be standing
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years from now. That is leadership. That's building
00:30:45.420 --> 00:30:53.170
a legacy. And that, my friends, is the hustle.
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Thank you for listening to the lawn hustle. If
00:30:59.329 --> 00:31:03.549
this episode has helped you, share it with another
00:31:03.549 --> 00:31:07.890
lawn care business owner who needs to hear it.
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And remember, you need to work on your business
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Not just in your business And I'll see you on
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the next episode keep hustling keep growing and
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keep