Farm Team

If you happen to be at all aware of the talent development organization of a major league baseball team, the term Farm Team will not be unfamiliar.

But let’s catch those up that might not be clear on principle. 

Branch Rickey was famous for developing and bringing Jackie Robinson to the Majors. But you can read here on how he further strengthened his team(the Cardinals) with a training and growth culture

You have heard, “ No one is self-made”? Well, that is true in sports as well. Infants are not born to slam dunk or run the fastest 100 meters.

That said, MLB baseball players often leave college and enter the “Farm Team” system. This is the start of the journey. 

Some of course fast track and get the majors much quicker. Some never leave the farm. This is what it’s for. See how a player performs over a longer span of time and how they take coaching. Do they improve? Have bad habits? Get along with teammates. 

We can all attest the current fiasco of finding GOOD STAFF. Especially in any kind of blue collar/ trades world.

Sure, you could pay obscene amounts and bring experienced people aboard. But that’s not a guarantee to be a winning result.

MLB players have gotten signing bonuses and great contracts based on how well they did in Boston or Cincinnati. But you put them in Tampa, with a different coach, away from their comfortable surroundings and they may strike out.

All players once were in a minor league.

We need to admit that after what I call the “Epidemic after the Pandemic” is probably not going to bounce back.

I might get cancelled for this... but if you have been following me for any length of time, you know I've never been one to be quiet about things I believe strongly. A generation will not just overnight see that they have been mis-guided by social media and hard work is still the only true way to success (GASP). 

Training for a growing disaster company can be tough. You are already short-handed. You do well just to respond to the jobs you have and keep the overtime as low as possible. 

You don’t have SOP’s. Relax….almost no one does. Written processes on the most basic things are not common in any small business but especially the trades. Restoration businesses are no different. The processes and procedures are in the owner's head. Along with 1000 other things.
It’s no surprise we hit the proverbial ceiling.

IICRC classes will provide education on the technical cleaning and drying aspects, but they don’t GROW leaders really. The Soft Skills.

• Project Management
• Conflict Resolution
• Time Management
• Emotional Intelligence
• Self Confidence
• Solutions
• Mentoring others
• Many More
  
  

These are the future.
School doesn’t teach that.
A shrinking number of parents seem to be present. 

College? Nope

So it is up to us. 

First you have to find GOOD people. Not anyone that knows how to do a certain thing or have construction experience. I will challenge you that those with some experience may have learned the wrong way.

I personally have had a very high interest in mentoring and coaching. Develop people so they can go out and live their dreams and hopefully create new wonderful people. Live on a farm team.

In the Summer of 2021, we host a series of 4 masterclasses for Junior Leaders. These were position specific (project managers, estimators, Ops Managers, and office admins). They were WILDLY successful. We keep tabs on past participants and many are still connected to one another as they build their network for their future superstars.

We are going to do it again but not position specific. 

We have created a 8-10 week series with a lesson on very important and beneficial areas of excellence. Management, Leadership, and Productivity. 

We are calling it ACCELERATE. A coach guided peer to peer mastermind series for your emerging leaders. 

12-14 people per group is about the MAX to make sure everyone has a voice and can participate.

We are going to run a few to make sure we can accompany the large number already asking to grab a seat.

There are requirements and agreements around attendance, complete tasks, being present, and being a part of the group. If anyone can’t we will ask them to find another way to find their education.

Would you be interested? Have a few emerging stars on the farm team with superstar potential, just needing some structure and direction?
Fill out this form and let us know about them and we will make sure you get the first jump on signing up.

These are so empowering and only get better week after week when the teams get comfortable together.

Of course, they are facilitated by myself or one of our qualified coaches.

If you recall, in last weeks blog called “Lead Up” we referred to Clint Pulvers book “I love it here”. Number 3 on his list of building your dream team was… Hire Internally. 

We have to build these teams from the inside out. 

Create our own Farm Team.