There are still good people out there

The greatest struggle and easiest recipe for success for my business has simply been this: Striving to get the right people in the right positions doing the right thing at the right time for the right reasons.

If you study history and follow the development of this great land of America, you will find people coming to America for a few different reasons. Two of the most common of those reasons were for monetary support and to seek religious freedom.

This created a hard-working nation with a foundation built on values and integrity that was far greater than other nations and led to the Industrial Revolution. If we follow the history of the American people from that time until today, we all see a very different picture.

50 to 75 years ago, there were still school teachers who taught children as if they were their own flesh and blood. They would discipline and teach the students the realities of life. The Golden Rule was not talked about; it was lived.

Today, a child cannot possibly understand real life when they are raised by technology, and they have never had to endure a hard day’s work in order to eat and survive. But, I believe there are still a lot of good people looking to find careers with the potential for a successful future with bosses who know them personally and genuinely care about them. These young people are striving for what our parents took for granted.

If you really don’t enjoy managing people and find it frustrating or a ‘waste of time’ to get to know their goals, their struggles and what makes them shine, you should either hire someone to obtain this information for you or find a business that does not require people.

Jeremy Martin (see article on page 22) provides a very impressive outline on how to treat people and develop a quality group of employees. Please read the article. Read it again. Print it out, and hang it on the wall!

So how can you find the right people? Start out by looking to the people you already have and make a plan for treating them exceptionally well. The good ones will be inspired to share their testimony of how you really care about them with others who will then want to join your team. This kindness also helps keep a team together long enough to get good enough to win!

If you take 5% to 10% of gross revenue and create a program to recruit, develop and motivate your people, you will be able to assemble an All-Star team. Sit down for just 1 hour and start listing the qualities you believe the right people should have.

Then make a list of all the places you can find them. Next, make a list of how you intend to make your company different from all the others. Finally, go make it happen! An All-Star team with all the right tools and leadership will take you where you lead them and profit will be a byproduct of having fun.

Then make a list of all the places you can find them. Next, make a list of how you intend to make your company different from all the others. Finally, go make it happen! An All-Star team with all the right tools and leadership will take you where you lead them and profit will be a byproduct of having fun.

David Bower is President of Seven Oaks Landscapes-Hardscapes, Inc. in Redwood, VA. Email David at David.Bower@PrivateGarden.org