I remember as a kid watching cartoons every Saturday morning, there was a frequent advertisement that had the taglines “The more you know, the farther you will go,” and “Leaders are readers.” At the time I didn’t think much about it, but as I started my cleaning and restoration company, those taglines would have a profound impact on both myself and my business partner, Larry.
You see, when we started our business we had no real skills. Like many new business owners, we were just concerned about getting the phone to ring and getting paid. That mentality was great while it was only Larry and I, but not so much as we gained a building full of employees. We had no clue how to properly lead or manage them. We expected them to just do what we did, which was not a fair ask because we were just making it all up as we went along. Not a great way to run a team or a business. We needed to figure some things out fast so we could grow the type of business we dreamed of owning. That’s when the Saturday morning television taglines were rekindled in my mind that I need to read.