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Today’s Guest on the Winning Teams Podcast is Jeff McManus, Director of Landscape Services at the University of Mississippi, and author of “Growing Weeders into Leaders”. Jeff grows plants and he also grows people.
Like humans, plants need many things in order to grow and survive. Plants need to be nurtured, they need to be watered, they need air, and space, and time to flourish. Jeff realised that if he started growing people the way he grew plants, he would have a much better and more productive staff and so he began to implement this methodology with his staff and saw positive results in a short space of time. It all comes down to two things, cultivating and growing!
Jeff’s book “Growing Weeders into Leaders” is about succeeding in life and empowering people to think beyond their limitations.
In this interview Jeff talks about his leap from landscaping to leadership! How he believes everyone has a purpose in life and how best to harness people to reach their true purpose in life both personally and professionally. He talks about the importance of taking ownership of what you are doing and tying that purpose into everyday tasks.
We also discuss how taking ownership of what you are doing develops a sense of self awareness and in turn strengthens core beliefs and increases motivation.
He talks about the importance of developing your own corporate creed within an organisation and planting the seeds of leadership and teamwork.
He goes on to talk about;
- Sustaining motivation through communication
- Aligning strategy with culture and how culture will always trump strategy
- You grow what you sow – and the importance of proactively and consistently planning seeds of positivity, resilience, communication, leadership and teamwork
- We discuss ways to get your staff thinking on a higher level and the importance of investing in people
- Jeff also explains how great leaders learn how to serve and help others, and the importance of a leader who has self-awareness and is willing to learn and grow.
Jeff talks us through his four step GROW leadership plan and mind-set
G – Greatness
R – Resilience
O – Opportunities
W – Wisdom
One books that had a significant impact on Jeff’s life is “The One Thing” by Gary Kelly. When you want the absolute best chance to succeed at anything you want, your approach should always be the same. Go small.
“Going small” is ignoring all the things you could do and doing what you should do. It’s recognizing that not all things matter equally and finding the things that matter most. It’s a tighter way to connect what you do with what you want. It’s realizing that extraordinary results are directly determined by how narrow you can make your focus.
Daily habits and rituals; Jeff likes to exercise first thing every morning, then he takes time to read something spiritual. Once a week, he will stop for half an hour and light a candle and use this quiet time to reflect and refocus.
If you want to find out more information about Jeff and his programs, you can connect with him on http://www.jeffmcmanus.com. You can find Jeff’s book “Growing Weeders into Leaders” on www.amazon.com
Click here to listen.
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Thanks to Jodey Smith, my podcasting technical genius, who does all the bits I don’t
like –the editing, the uploading etc. He is a gem and can be contacted at JodeySmith.com.
Are you ready to be a great leader?
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