Jeff McManus's Blog, page 22

The Excuses Stop Now

“One day, I am going to do it.”  

Have you ever been there? Maybe you felt like that, even said that out loud. “One day, I will invest in my team and not just our daily routine.” Maybe, deep down, you know it is time to get someone to coach some of your team leaders.  

“One day, I am going to invest in myself as a person.” Maybe you would like to get some insights on a challenge you are facing. “One day” should be now. Now is the time to invest in yourself and your key leaders.   

Recen...

Does This Sound Like You?

I was speaking to a very engaged Grounds Manager recently about a situation he was privileged to be a part of. Each day at work, he purchases a cup of coffee for himself and for a young worker on his staff, who happens to have downs syndrome. He said the coffee is not that expensive and he really enjoys the daily ritual with his young worker. One day, however, he was surprised when the young worker got a bit upset with him. “I wanted to buy you a cup of coffee today,” he informed him.  

The G...

3 Ways to Be the Leader Others Want to Follow All the Time

1. Be honest 

Zig Ziglar once said, “Honesty is not the best policy, it’s the only policy.” According to the book, The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner, honesty is the most admired trait in a leader. You don’t need a degree to model this. 

2. Be inspiring 

Most leaders don’t see themselves as inspiring, but what does it mean to inspire others? According to The Leadership Challenge, people expect leaders to be excited, energetic and positive about the future. As a le...

To Procrastinate or Activate?

“You may delay, but time will not.” ~ Benjamin Franklin. 

Recently I was having a conversation with a young leader who told me he spent all day Saturday watching football and as a result, he didn’t get any work done. He felt bad because he had some projects planned, but he had wasted the entire day just watching football. This is a good guy; he takes care of his family, running a couple of successful “side hustles” to make extra money for them. He asked me, how do you overcome procrastination...

3 Mistakes Every Leader Needs to Avoid

Don't assume. One of the biggest mistakes I made was thinking our workforce thought of themselves as leaders. I assumed because I thought of everyone as leaders, so did they. When I ask our team to raise their hand if they felt like they were a leader, about half did and half did not. I needed to communicate more often and with greater clarity.Don’t blame your team. Once you blame others on your team, you lose a bit of respect, authority and motivation. Ultimately, the leader is responsible....

Here’s the Inside Scoop on my New Leadership Program: Leadership Champions

How do you get more done with less? You develop people who lead well. How do you go home earlier, stop working late and have happier customers? You grow great leaders in your organization who can do more. Most of us are not able to attract experienced leaders with high salaries and fancy benefits, but all of us can grow those leaders that work with us. 

Do you need people who “Lead by Example?” Do you need leaders who can adapt in the situation and overcome the challenges of the day without h...

5 Reasons You Should Start Building Your Leaders Today

You can’t do it all. Work toward delegating, mentoring and coaching your team leaders for success when taking the lead. Finding the lost opportunities. Looking forward and thinking about what is next in your job…along with everything else. If you train others to take on parts of your job, new opportunities become available, and you will have time to pursue them. Put a stop to the excuses. By empowering your team to recognize their personal potential to solve problems, you make them capab...

Why mere words are NOT enough

How can you plant positive mindsets in your leaders? Just as with any landscaped environment, you begin by keeping the weeds out! Negativity and laziness are examples of two of the most nutrient-depleting weeds in any work environment. As the leader, you can plant and maintain a workplace that thrives on being positive and adaptable, or you can let the weeds deplete it. Many experts say you can keep the weeds out. In the book, Change the Culture Change the Game, authors Roger Conners and Tom Smi...

One trap that hinders new leaders

Johnny was promoted to supervisor and within a few days, he noticed he was anxious and feeling sick. After a few days, he realized he had internalized the pressures from the deadlines, work demands and the new challenges of leadership.   

The expectations that come with being a leader can be high, especially when it comes to creating high-end results. In the book Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, they share lessons of leadership through their...

Cultivating leaders: The Racehorse Theory

Recently, in Orlando, Florida, I spoke to a group of landscape business leaders about cultivating their crews’ leadership skills. In the talk, I spoke about “The Racehorse Theory.” If you invested $100,000 in a horse for racing because you knew this horse had the potential to earn you one million dollars in a year, how would you handle that horse?  

Would you allow the racehorse to just graze in the pasture to eat briars, weeds or whatever it could find? On race day, would you just show up an...