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Prune the Tree

When you prune a tree, you remove the dead or diseased parts so the whole tree will grow and thrive. If you don’t prune the tree, the whole tree is at risk of dying.

The same is true with businesses.

Finding the Root of Recurring Issues

How much time and effort is it taking to run your business? Six months ago, I posed this question to one of my client leadership teams. They were getting good results—after all, they had been profitable and were achieving double-digit growth. But it felt like the team was expending an extraordinary amout of energy, time, and effort to do so. I asked, why?

This company is in the service and distribution business with around 100 employees and multiple locations. They’ve been in business for decades. But their largest location consistently had a high turnover of employees, and just seemed to always be limping along. It was a drag on the bottom line, and was consistently a source of frustration because of the number of issues that seemed to be never ending. It felt like Groundhog Day as the same issues kept resurfacing.

After seeing this situation unfold with other teams, I’ve found that there’s often an issue at the top, somewhere on the leadership team.

People Issues on the Leadership Team

My client’s team used the People Analyzer Tool and reanalyzed the leadership team in an effort to help the root cause. The results were initially difficult for the team to stomach. The operations leader was incredibly talented and skilled at his position, but he didn’t fully fit the company culture. His behaviors didn’t align with the company’s core values.

After several attempts at trying to help the operations leader improve, the team came to the conclusion that the long-time team member had to be let go. It was an emotional decision for the team because they really liked this person and he was very talented.

To the leadership team’s pleasant surprise, within just 90 days after the operations leader’s exit, employee turnover had dropped significantly, communication within the department had improved substantially, and the company broke sales and profitability records. The best part? They’re experiencing “great” results with less time, effort, and energy than it previously took to achieve “good” results.

Does Your Business Have the Right Leaders in the Right Seats?

Are you spending too much time, effort, and energy to achieve “good” results in your business? If so, when is the last time you pruned the tree of leaders that don’t fit your business? Schedule time now to evaluate your leaders to make sure you have the right people in the right seats!