Small business, big leadership lesson

I received a phone call from the owner of the landscaping company that is doing some work in our yard. He asked whether I was happy with the results so far, to which I responded that I was.

His next question surprised me. “𝑰𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒆?” he asked.

“Yes, now that you mention it, they are very polite! Not only to me, but to each other, they seem to enjoy working together.” I answered.

“Well, good, that’s very important to me, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍.”

Now, this company, this landscaping company has been around since 1979. They must have hundreds of clients, many of them large commercial clients bringing in a lot more $$$ than my small backyard project.

Yet the owner, Ross Gregory, called me on the phone himself, to ask not only if I was happy with the 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕 of his team’s work but 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒕. 

Maybe it was a random call, or maybe he calls every single client at least once. I don’t know. What struck me was his specific question about his team’s manners. Not only about the work being done well, but about working well.

Leaders should care 𝒉𝒐𝒘 teams get to results.

#lessonsinleadership #organizationalculture #smallbusiness