A concept gaining widespread interest is that of the self-managing company. The aim? To liberate leaders from operational minutiae, paving the way for strategic foresight and innovation.
In today's fast-paced world, many people in the trades are seeking a deeper sense of meaning and purpose in their lives. One area where we can find this sense of meaning is in our professional roles, particularly when we provide leadership.
The challenge for most of us can be identifying how we foster an abundance mindset—a key ingredient to achieving success—in our daily lives and workplace cultures.
For business leaders in the plumbing contracting industry, it is crucial to understand that problems always hold solutions. Instead of shying away from them or seeking ways to avoid bumpy roads and obstacles, we should embrace challenges.
As service business leaders, we often focus blindly on the results — key performance indicators, sales targets and other specific goals. But when it comes to success in any industry, relationships are often much more important than simply reaching a result-based goal. This is especially true for plumbing contractors who need trust and cooperation from our manufacturers, distributors, clients and other partners to succeed call after call, day after day.
There has been a lot of private equity activity in the service trades since the COVID-19 lockdowns. Suddenly, boring old businesses gained monetary sex appeal when they were declared essential and could continue making money while many other local businesses were effectively shuttered. This has led to a land rush for good service contracting businesses and many plumbers have grabbed the brass ring while the grabbing was seen as good.
The most effective leaders understand that leadership is more than just giving orders and dictating how things should be done. It’s about understanding the unique needs of everyone in your company (or department) and finding a way to lead in a fair and compassionate manner.
Scalding in the home or burns from hot liquids is dangerous to anyone, but is a particular concern to the youngest and oldest Americans. Plumbers are charged with protecting the health of the nation. Thus, plumbers can play a key role in reducing the risk, starting with homeowner education.