Jeff McManus's Blog, page 22

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...

Can problems actually be helpful?

In my mastermind group, Dan Miller, author and creator of the 48 Days to Work You Love, presented this question as a response to use when anyone runs into a problem we didn’t expect. He said, “What does this make possible?” Initially, I tend to think problems are bad when it comes to leadership scenarios, but have you ever considered that problems might actually be useful? Dan’s question, “What does this make possible?” helped me see problems in a different light.  

Leadership expert John Max...

3 Practical Steps to Help Your Team’s Workflow

“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” This passage in Luke can sometimes prove applicable in the workforce nowadays. Sometimes we feel like we just don’t have enough people on the team to get the job done right and on time, and that can cause us to not give it our all.   

When I first started working as a landscape leader, it took us 10 days to mow the entire college campus. It didn’t take us long to realize that this, no pun intended, wasn’t going to cut it, and changes neede...

Working Smarter, Not Harder

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “Work smarter, not harder” more times than you can count, but have you ever stopped to think about what it really means? Or better yet, what it could mean for your team?   

The concept of working smarter and not harder should resonate with leaders who find themselves extremely busy and needing to get their work done efficiently.   

When you look at your daily schedule, who do you think is in charge of it? Our customers? Our employees? Nope. The truth is, it...

Getting More Than Expected

When people sense that they matter, they instinctively become more engaged and more productive.
Years ago, I attended a Disney Horticulture Conference and I remember hearing Katy Moss Warner, former Director of Disney’s Horticulture and Environmental Initiatives, say, “The standard is not what you expect, it is what you accept.”

She was right. As a facility leader, I realized that our department had different standards for the same type of work from different crews. Not everyone saw the same sta...

We Don’t Have Time to Do Training!

Have you ever said this? I have plenty of times. In the urgency of the moment, it is almost ridiculous to even think that training will happen. The cycle of construction, school starting and projects rushed to completion seem to always take priority over training. Middle-level managers and frontline leaders are some of the busiest people I know. Have you ever thought that one day you would get around to doing some training? Me, too.

“We tried training once, but it didn’t work.”

I have always fel...

Product vs. Process

If you have ever seen the TV show The Profit starring Marcus Lemonis, you are familiar with the methods used to take struggling businesses and make them highly successful ones. He focuses on 3 parts of the business: people, processes and product. And with good reason.

As humans, we are always so eager to get to the product – finished and ready to ship, view, consume or use – that the product is often flawed, incomplete or otherwise undesirable.  Focusing some time and energy on process can save ...

5 Ways to Motivate Your Team

How important is motivation to your success? Are you a motivated person? Do you set goals, try to get better each day? Okay, now what about your team? Most leaders want and need motivated teams. If you asked your team what motivates them, I bet someone will say, “more money in my paycheck.” But do they really mean that? Most research tells us the link between what you make and how satisfied you are at your job is very weak.

Here are 5 ways to help motivate your team that cost nothing.

Create a ...