Put the tools down and be the boss!

I wanted to share some stories about the Tradies we coach and some of the stuff they are going through.
I wanted to share some stories about the Tradies we coach and some of the stuff they are going through.

Tradies, this one is for you!

I wanted to share some stories about the Tradies we coach and some of the stuff they are going through.

Many of the conversations we have with the fellas concern their workload and how they keep up to this. And on the flip side, the conversations we are having with the wives include 'he's working like an idiot; how do I help him stop it? It's killing him.'

Coaching the Tradies on saying 'NO' is high on our agenda, plus, recruitment and building trust so that the tradie team are capable of doing what they have been doing themselves for all these years. Time to face it, It really is time to let go and let them step up.

LET THEM be is the operative word. Stop being a control freak pretty much.

In our Amp It Up program, one of my favourite participants is a bloke named Sam. He keeps telling us all how he goes onto site, chucks on his toolbelt, and his staff almost look at him like he has two heads. They shake their heads at him as if to say 'mate - would ya bugger off? We have got this!'

Why is that you ask?

Because bosses like Sam need to put the toolbelt on the friggin' ground.

As the director of your business, yes, read that again Tradie, 'DIRECTOR'!  Meaning - the person who gives direction to the key players in their business; your job is to keep the work up to the team, to set the targets, to schmooze the customers, to sell, market and most of all TO PLAN.

It’s NOT out there onsite stressing your team out when you attempt to lay a pipe whilst half on the friggin' phone, or walking around like a lost puppy. Your team are more than capable of doing what needs to be done. After all, you have micromanaged them for long enough, that they now know precisely 'your' way of doing things. Yes, you are a micromanager.

So how do you let go? How do you feel confident you can leave them to it?

You push them out of the nest, mate. Or, you take off the training wheels.

YOU are being the mother hen. Also, YOU are the training wheels preventing them from flourishing and riding that BMX full-tilt down a hill. 

Sorry… Actually bullshit - no I am not sorry - unless you want to be a slave to your business the rest of your life, you've got to stop that shit.

Remember the types of 'learning experiences' you were given when you were growing up in the trade? How did you learn all you know? How did you grow the balls to do the shit you are doing now as a business owner?

You were LET TO so you could have a crack. Now, it's time for you to hand on the baton. It is time for you to watch your team come to the party. It's time for you to cast the vision you have for them in your business, and show them that the future with you is bright and shiny and that they too can benefit if they stay with you on the journey. But more on keeping people another day.

What I've loved about Sam's story, is that all the other tradies are going 'yup - this is me, I need to put the tool belt down too and let the boys at it'.

So, what will it take for you to do that? It starts small; by scheduling your time in the office at least half a day per week. Do the invoices and quotes at that time. Plan the jobs for the next week to two weeks, and by shit, I promise you, it will feel ace, and the staff will love you for it.

Not to mention your wife who has likely been feeling like a single parent.

Tradie, hit us up for a chat, or get the Mrs to contact us if you need a leg up on this. Come hang with Sam and the other Tradies, you just might learn something, like how to let go.


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