If you are a business owner, executive, or manage multiple team members in an organization, you have probably wondered, “What do I have to do to get things done around here?” You may find yourself frustrated with senior-level leadership not producing results, or you may be frustrated with yourself as the leader of your organization. It’s all too familiar for any entrepreneur or executive. And it’s a catch-22 if you think about it. You may be frustrated with a lack of results, but know that both the problem and solution are you!You have the power to make changes in yourself and inspire change in others. Whether you are energized by the thought of improving or it’s weighing on your shoulders, the best time to start is right now. In this moment, commit yourself to a path of leveling up how you manage yourself, projects, and other people.

I recently had a conversation with our co-founder and CEO, EJ McCoy, discussing this very topic. What separates those who make things happen from those who talk about making things happen? With years of experience leading others, he identified 3 specific attributes he looks for in effective managers. As soon as he shared them and explained his reasoning, it quickly became clear that these are the attributes of those who can execute and move mountains. These attributes come in different levels, and it’s rare to find an individual who is objectively strong in all three. However, each commands a level of effort that any effective manager should strive towards. Regardless of where you think you are, you have the opportunity to level up your management skills right now.

These were the three attributes the co-founder and CEO of several multi-million dollar home services businesses noted as the most important for effective managers:

• Create a structured environment with systems for your team to consistently win.

• Hold your people individually accountable for their responsibilities.

• Recruit, Hire, Train, Develop, and Fire people at the right time.

Create Systems

It quickly dawned on me that this was noted in James Clear’s “Atomic Habits.” To make changes, it is imperative to have a system in place to guide your steps and not rely on inspiration or motivation. While powerful emotions, they lack one key element: consistency. And if you know anything about running a successful home services organization, your ability to introduce and maintain consistency within your brand is imperative, potentially making or breaking your business. This applies to your people, your customers, your finances, and your brand. So, we know it’s important, but how do we do it?

Trust me, take the “start with the end in mind” approach. Whatever your objectives are, think about the ‘winning’ outcome. Whether you’re training a new team member, outlining a team member’s objectives, managing your finances, or creating a marketing campaign, you name it. You need to know what you or others are attempting to accomplish and engineer a system for them to win repeatedly.

Your next question should be, “What do they need to win?” Tools, resources, and the like. What is required for you or others to accomplish the tasks at hand. I emphasize ‘need’ with purpose here. It’s important to keep things as simple as possible. It’s very easy to get caught up in using the next, best, or flashiest new tool (mechanical, digital, etc.). A tool that seems cool or works for someone else doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right for your situation. Maybe it does work for you, but the point is to keep things simple and reduce both friction and distractions to accomplish tasks. You may already have everything you need at your fingertips. The question then becomes, are you making full use of your available resources? If not, you could waste valuable time and money.

Lastly, it’s imperative to document and communicate the system you’ve developed to all necessary people. The documentation and communication process should be simple, and you can likely use the resources at your disposal to do so.

PRO TIP

Introduce a reward system! One that rewards actions or behaviors fitting within your objectives. This is a part of developing a healthy culture.

• Consider what ‘winning’ is and what steps are necessary to accomplish the task at hand.

• Provide the necessary tools and/or resources required to accomplish the task.

• Keep things as simple as possible. Longevity and accuracy are the names of the game.

• Communicate to others as needed; don’t leave anyone out.

The process of creating and implementing a system becomes even more important when considering scaling your business. Think of it like a car. There are multiple mechanical and electrical systems that must work with precision to make that car turn on and move. They need to communicate with each other and require structure to operate efficiently. The next thing to consider is how to optimize your systems, but that’s for another time.

Accountability

Personally, this is the most challenging skill to learn. It requires a balance of understanding your objectives and the complexity of people. You can be a dedicated person who wakes up at 5:00 AM every morning, immediately steps into a cold plunge, and then does an intense workout. But can you have a direct and honest conversation with a team member who isn’t following a system you put in place? It becomes even more challenging when this person has been with your organization for years and rarely slips up. It’s easy to let things slide, but just like improvement is compounding in nature, so is backsliding. I am not suggesting you forego empathy. Empathy is incredibly important. It empowers you to connect with others when things are going well and, more importantly, when they are not. But empathy does not mean you allow unhealthy tendencies to slide, personally or with others. It gives you the opportunity to have a deeper understanding of your people, especially when they are struggling.

In fact, having a direct and honest conversation with someone who is slipping out of alignment benefits both that individual and the entire team. Everyone should be working together to accomplish objectives. But when one or many are falling out of alignment, you risk slowing, halting, or backsliding on the momentum you are responsible for maintaining. You might pride yourself on your resilience, but can you do the other hard things that affect the bigger picture? This leads into the philosophy of coaching up or coaching out, a topic for another time.

PRO TIP

Having a structure and system in place makes it significantly easier to identify whether someone is just having a tough time and needs some coaching, or whether they are not the right fit for your team or business.

People In and People Out

We don’t live in a perfect world. Your top performers may find new opportunities or decide to make a career shift. Or, you may need to let one of your team members go. Either way, as an effective manager, you should be consistently managing people coming in and going out of your team or business.

That includes recruiting, hiring, training, developing, and firing people. You must understand that your people are your greatest asset. Equipping your people to accomplish tasks (developing systems), holding them accountable to your direction, and managing people coming in and leaving are part of how you keep things moving forward.

I firmly believe that keeping an active pulse on the talent pool, regardless of your current needs, is important. It positions you to fill a need faster than starting from scratch. This is not coming from a negative place but from a place of being strategic with the ultimate goal of priming a team to consistently win. LinkedIn, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, networking events, social media groups, and many more are all ways to keep a pulse on the talent pool. Keep a job posting up and have an interview every other week to keep things fresh. Or, just simply have conversations with people! I don’t believe it is misleading to a candidate, provided you are straightforward from the first phone call or video call. You can be honest and share your intentions that you want to get to know people in this industry who may be a fit.

Next, having a system in place to train someone you’ve hired is crucial. This goes back to the previous point – and becomes increasingly important knowing your people are your greatest asset. You want to have a structured program, however in-depth required, to teach them the skills required to win.

PRO TIP

I won’t go into what you should look for in people here, but I will say that if you have a strong system in place, character and aspiration become more important than skill – in some cases.

Similar to having a solid structure for training a new team member, you should be equally focused on continually training and developing your existing team members. Technology and best practices change. Or maybe your system has to change, willingly or unwillingly. Either way, be mindful that you are responsible for engineering an environment for your team members to win consistently.

Lastly, and most challenging for most, is firing people. Remember that you are the protector of your team’s environment and culture. If someone on your team is not performing, causing issues with your team’s environment, or harming your customer’s experience, it is vital that you take steps to coach out and let someone go. Nobody enjoys this task, but it is necessary. The longer you keep someone employed who you feel should not be there, the harder it will be for your team to succeed and your business to move forward. Consider the thought exercise from Netflix’s founder, Reed Hastings – if this person were to come to you today to let you know they are considering another job opportunity, would you fight for them to stay, or say farewell? If you wouldn’t fight for them to stay, that may be your answer. Again, you are the protector of your team’s environment and culture, so do the hard things. 

Recap

You may excel at none, some, or all of these – but each undoubtedly commands your attention to improve upon if you want to be a successful manager that can execute. 

• Create a structured environment with systems for your team to consistently win

• Hold your people individually accountable for their responsibilities 

• Recruit, Hire, Train, Develop, and Fire people at the right time 

If you want an ally to partner with you in your journey of improvement, White Picket Team Management is here to help. Rest assured you are in control of your future, but our team of experienced team members are ready to come alongside you to help you grow.