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Editor’s note: Alan Feuer, technical director, Preventive Pest Control, Albuquerque, N.M., is also a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. Feuer is writing a series of leadership articles for PCT based on his years of his military and pest control experience. In part one, Feuer shares two goals of leadership to keep in mind as you continue developing yourself as a leader. Feuer, along with Pete Schopen, Schopen Pest Solutions, McHenry, Ill., and Maria Sorrentino, president of Pest Pros of Michigan, Portage, Mich., will be presenting on how to grow as a leader in a series of in-person events: the “Lead People, Manage Stuff” series. The next session, “Fundamentals of Leadership and Company Culture,” takes place June 17-18 in Dallas. For more information contact Sorrentino at 269/503-9860 or maria@pestprosmi.com.
As we learned in the very first article, leadership has only two goals. These are ACCOMPLISHMENT OF MISSION and the WELFARE OF THE TEAM. Today, we will wrap up the ELEVEN LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES by reviewing four principles that advance MISSION COMPLETION.
EMPLOY YOUR TEAM WITHIN ITS CAPABILITIES
This is actually a very simple principle as it may be reduced to one question: “Does your team have the TRAINING, TOOLS, and TIME to complete the assigned mission?”
As I consider our industry, I think about more complicated and specialized pest control services such as termite, bird and wildlife control. We all know that such arenas of our industry indeed require a special touch and a well thought out plan of action coupled with appropriate tools, products and methods.
Several years ago, I recall visiting a branch of the company where I was the new Technical Director. This branch was in another state. One of the techs in the area asked me to visit with a client about termite control at their home. While this was an enjoyable visit with both the homeowner and the tech, I soon came to realize the following:
- This tech had never dealt with termites and had no license. No other techs in the area had the appropriate license either.
- This branch had never conducted termite operations and had ZERO equipment.
As you might expect, to even consider bidding this job would have been foolish for us and unfair to the client. For this branch to start termite operations would require an appropriate investment in TRAINING, TOOLS, AND TIME. We would need weeks of effort and thousands of dollars on the conservative side. To the point of this leadership principle, this branch obviously did not have the capacity to handle this mission.
ENSURE THE MISSION IS UNDERSTOOD, SUPERVISED AND COMPLETED
This principle is much more complicated. As I write this, I know I will need to revisit this one principle in a stand-alone article. For now, here are the basics.
The greatest mistake we make in leadership, management and in general interpersonal relations is that we assume understanding and agreement on the part of others. Just because we clearly understand something does not mean that others understand in the same way. Just because I agree that something is to be done, doesn’t mean that others agree with me.
This issue occurs quite often with new teams, new team members or new leaders. In such instances it is quite easy for assumptions to be made while communication styles and personal behaviors and proficiencies are still unclear. It is important for us as leaders, as directed by prior principles, to KNOW OUR TEAM and then TRAIN THEM AS A TEAM.
Mission wins are more easily achieved due to PRIOR EFFORTS of training and development as well as the building of team unity and DISCIPLINE. I will discuss this further in the last principle of this article.
Many of the task/missions/jobs in the pest management industry are repetitive in nature. In such instances, our personnel should be so well-trained that these tasks happen with great PROFICIENCY in a virtually automatic way.
Our role as leaders, beyond prior preparation, is to provide support/supervision when our personnel come up against odd or specifically challenging issues. This simply boils down to ensuring that your team knows that they may call upon you and that you will respond to their need. You will serve them when they need you.
Finally, we must clearly define what a win looks like for any of the jobs we engage. For instance, will there still be German cockroaches seen at an account after an initial service? Most likely. But that does not mean the job was incomplete or a failure. In this instance, we must have clarity that the treated area must simply be allowed to “marinade” in the various control products and that the job will indeed be complete at the follow up in two weeks.
MAKE SOUND AND TIMELY DECISIONS
What is a sound decision? Well, what is the mission? Is this even a mission decision or perhaps this is a welfare of the team thing.
As leaders, we need to consider many forces that come into play in our day-to-day operations. These forces may be financial, physical or emotional. You see, there are many questions to be asked and these may cloud or clarify your judgment on your way to any decision.
Sound decisions come after a REASONABLE amount of research, inquiry and reconnaissance have been made. It is important to know however that we will NEVER have all the information, and no decision we make will be perfect. There will always be some missed detail or some unintended consequence of our decision. The world is a complicated place.
As leaders, we cannot be paralyzed by uncertainty or fear when making decisions.
Take the best information and knowledge that you have and go with that. If you have invested time in developing yourself and your team, you will be in a great place to make a great decision.
DEVELOP A SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY AMONG YOUR SUBORDINATES
Our industry is perfectly suited for gradual development of responsibility.
It starts with personal responsibility. As Jesus says, if you are faithful with a little, you may then be faithful with more.
Show up on time, care for your equipment and keep your supplies in order.
We must ensure that our personnel can be PROFICIENT in these basic things, that they accept RESPONSIBILITIES in these most basic functions.
Our role is to guide them and then hold them accountable. Allow mistakes, but never allow for indifference.
Once these competencies are performed with consistency, then we may move onto realms of higher responsibility such as route management, sales, field training, etc.
The people on your team can become leaders even without a title or a position. Leadership is all about being accountable and accepting responsibility.
When your team accepts personal responsibility, your job of leadership or management becomes significantly easier. When we manage easy, we are more effective. When we are more effective, we become more profitable. In the game of business, that is the big picture win.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
Next month, we will review 14 words that tie in with the PRINCIPLES that we explored during the last 3 months. These words make up the LEADERSHIP TRAITS.
The acronym all Marines use is JJ DID TIE BUCKLE. Go ahead, type that into GOOGLE and get a head start on the next lesson. After all, good leaders exhibit INITIATIVE.