In the last few weeks, I’ve been having a lot of conversations with business owners about how difficult it can be to choose the right drivers, and more importantly, how to connect them to people’s day-to-day actions. Whether you call them KPIs, metrics, or drivers, I prefer to use the word drivers, because that’s what […]
Category Archives: People
Insights, Leadership, Open Book Management, People
How We Build Dignity and Ownership Through Better Meetings
08
Oct
Oct
Inside Creative Roots Landscaping’s people-first approach to creating better meetings and stronger teams that build trust, clarity, and accountability. Why Better Meetings Build Stronger Teams Early in my career I thought the best way to improve the business was to work harder in the field. If we just pushed a little faster, added a few […]
Insights, Leadership, Open Book Management, People, Strategic Planning, The Great Game of Business
Open-Book Management: Don’t Be Fooled by the Buzzword
29
Aug
Aug
You can’t just share the numbers and think your employees will “get it!” In the world of business management, Open-Book Management (OBM) has become somewhat of a buzzword. It’s a term many leaders toss around, often with little understanding of what it truly entails. To tell you the truth, it drives me crazy! But that […]
Insights, Leadership, Open Book Management, People, The Great Game of Business
OWNERSHIP RULE #4 of 14: “Stock is NOT a Magic Pill” Employee Ownership in the Landscape Industry
08
Oct
Oct
In the world of business, there are rules, principles, and strategies that have been tested and proven over time. Among these rules, as described by Jack Stack in his book A Stake in The Outcome, rule #4 stands out as a critical lesson for businesses of all sizes and industries: “Stock Is Not a Magic […]
Insights, Leadership, Open Book Management, People, The Great Game of Business
OWNERSHIP RULE #3 of 14: The Bigger the Pie, the Bigger the Individual Slices.
19
Sep
Sep
Building a thriving landscaping company isn’t just about landscaping; it’s also about people. Our ownership team was recently working on the next level of our plan to continue to bring more employees into ownership when the time becomes right. The question is, “When is the time right, and what do we need to do to […]
Insights, Leadership, Open Book Management, People, The Great Game of Business
OWNERSHIP RULE #2 of 14: A Company isn’t worth anything if nobody wants to own it.
13
Sep
Sep
Alright, let’s talk business, but not the boring, run-of-the-mill stuff. We’re diving into the landscape industry—where beauty meets business. Here’s the deal: your company’s worth isn’t just dollars and cents. Nope, it’s about being the kind of company that everyone wants a piece of. That’s where the Great Game of Business (GGOB) swoops in with […]
Insights, Leadership, Open Book Management, People, The Great Game of Business
OWNERSHIP RULE #1 of 14: “The Company is the Product.”
26
Aug
Aug
In the ever-evolving landscape industry, success hinges not only on the beauty of the environments we create but also on the innovative strategies we employ to run our businesses. One such transformative concept that has been making waves across various industries, including ours, is “The Company is the Product.” At its core, this concept encapsulates […]
Open Book Management, People
With every set of hands I get a free brain! – OBM from an employee’s perspective
14
Oct
Oct
Oh, boy…is it that time again? It feels like I just posted an article last month, and already I am a few months behind on delivering this one! A problem, right? Well, yes, I did break my own personal deadline and now that I’m on it I hope I can redeem myself! But to do […]
16
Mar
Mar
“Great vision without great people is irrelevant.” Jim Collins. “Take our best 20 people away, and I tell you that Microsoft will become an unimportant company.” Bill Gates About halfway through my 26 years as the owner of Creative Roots Landscaping, I started to hit the same roadblock that most overly ambitious, chaos-thriving, “I can […]