Articles by Kenny Chapman

You’ve certainly heard all the cliché statements around taking a “30,000-foot view” of the business or your department. How taking this view can help you see things you weren’t able to see “from the ground” when it comes to process, procedure and daily activities.

As a driven leader in a blue-collar industry, I’m sure you’re no stranger to making mistakes. If you’re at all like me, you’ve made some big mistakes throughout your career. These are not just to be expected, but I’m here to help you remember that they are absolutely necessary for your continued growth and evolution as a driven leader.

Whether you’ve been in business for a week, a year or a decade, you have undoubtedly experienced more than just a few setbacks. We’ve all had major setbacks in our lives and businesses, and we generally respond to setbacks with our world-conditioned responses involving pain. We have pain, we have trauma, and we have turmoil, challenges, etc.

As you are well aware, our incredible industry has been experiencing massive growth for the last couple of years. We have been seeing contractors post record months for both sales and profitability at unprecedented levels. It seems there has finally even been a shift from how this industry is viewed from the outside.

A lot of folks hate the idea of “problems.” A lot of people see this as something to be overcome or fixed, but as leaders, we’re missing out on a huge opportunity here if this is the mindset we take. 

We’ve all heard the expression, “Keep your eyes on the prize.” Of course, we all know it means to stay focused on what’s really important in your business and life.

We all have fear in business and life. I’m not attacking you here and saying you’re a coward or afraid to take risks, but it’s a natural part of life. 

We all want to grow in life, and especially in business. It is part of the measurement of success we as leaders can look at, and it’s one we often have to meet for our stakeholders and team members.