Opposites Attract and Then They Build a Business: How the Scarsellas Transformed Brothers Lawn Services through Team Investment

Steve and Anne Scarsella: [00:00:00] one of the things we continue to work on is knowing your strengths is an awareness. It's not a crutch. You don't go, "Oh, you're competitive. You're an activist. That's just why this happens." It's, no, you're aware of it now. Let's... A strength can be a weakness too if you let it dominate in the wrong way. So we take and we're aware of it, but not just tell people it, I did that because I, I'm a learner, or I'm an activator, or I'm a com- I'm competitive. Um, we need to pay attention to the situations. We're aware of it now, and how do we utilize the strength to be an advantage, not a weakness. You mean your competition gets in the way for you sometimes? Speaker 2: Welcome to the Roots of Success, the Premier Landscapers podcast that brings you the latest tips and strategies for successful landscape business. I'm Jim Calli, one of the principles and coaches of McFarlin Stanford. Jason New and I started McFarlin Stanford to [00:01:00] coach landscape businesses after years in the industry ourselves, now more than 10 years since we began, McFarlin has a deep bench of coaches and subject matter experts who work with our clients on very specific issues of business. Whether you're struggling with people. Profits or just day-to-day challenges Our coaches and guests have the real world experience and practical advice to help you build a thriving and profitable landscape business. Tracy Wallingford: Hello, and welcome to Roots of Success. I'm Tracy Wallingford, an executive coach with McFarlin Stanford, and I am here with my clients and friends, Steve and Anne Scarcella, owner of Brothers Lawn Services and Landscaping. Um, so, uh, they are longtime ACE members, the 20, uh, 25 ACE Ambassadors of the Year, and I'm super excited to, uh, have them on the show with us today. I think you're going to enjoy it. Hello. Steve and Anne Scarsella: Hello. Thank you for having us Hi, Tracy Tracy Wallingford: It's great to see you, and, uh, thank you for [00:02:00] being here. Um, our story starts in Italy, which, you know, what a g- what a g- what a great start to any story. And I think it was, I think it was 2022 on, uh, our first ACE experience where we got to get away and really, uh, spend some time together, break some bread, drink some wine, and, uh, really get to work on our business versus in our business. So, um, before we jump into that, uh, that part of the story, can you tell us a little bit about Brothers the company, the company you've built, the team you've built? Uh, give our listeners a little, uh, introduction to, uh, your team and your work there in Louisiana. Steve and Anne Scarsella: So Brother Services is based out of Youngsville, Louisiana. We roughly 65 team members strong. We have another division that my brother does run in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, uh, which [00:03:00] is the capital of Louisiana. We've developed a great leadership team, actually a strong team throughout. Uh, it's been, um, a fun process. We started a number of years ago with the idea that we want a team that all wants to work together. Not just the job, not just show up to fill a paycheck, but people that you wanna see day in and day out. Because the truth is you spend a lot of time with the people you work with, and why not have it people you want to see as often as possible? So Tracy Wallingford: Um, so starting with good humans who actually want to spend time together. Um, well, and you two are great role models for that, uh, being married owners of the company Steve and Anne Scarsella: You have anything to add, babe? Um, I don't think so. Uh, yeah. It's, it's a great team, [00:04:00] um, that we, we do enjoy working with. Yeah. Today I had a, a great time because the office, uh, during summer is bringing so much of their, their kids come to the office and spend time. Tracy Wallingford: Oh Steve and Anne Scarsella: So today I had four incredible dates that I brought to McDonald's and to an ice cream shop. So four young ladies that, uh, were super excited to spend the day with me from four years old to 11, so it was a awesome time Tracy Wallingford: Okay, so you literally hosted your own Take Your Daughters to Work day there at Steve and Anne Scarsella: Yeah. Tracy Wallingford: That's, that's fantastic. I love that. Well, I wanna go ba- I really wanna get started with, uh, the two of you, because when we were together in Italy, we, the, um, what we kicked off with was what I call the powerful partnerships session, where we literal- Steve and Anne Scarsella: was our experience with Clifton, so Tracy Wallingford: That, exactly. That was your, that was our first experience together with CliftonStrengths, [00:05:00] and what we do is we had you all take the assessment before you came to join us there in Italy, and we actually talked about what it means to be powerful partners. And put, if you remember, we put your strengths side by side. Steve, you lead with influencing themes. You get, you, um, make things happen through influencing others. And Anne, you lead with relationship building themes, which really is about the glue that holds people together. And when you hear the common theme there, it's really people, which really speaks to you all and your gift and why indeed you are ACE Ambassadors of the year, which is really opening the tent and including everyone in. So tell me a little bit about that experience and what it was about that experience that made you think, "Wow, our team needs this too." Steve and Anne Scarsella: Uh, I thought it was great. I mean, it was nothing that we didn't already know about each other. [00:06:00] We already knew that, um- We're opposites ... we're very different and we're opposites. But knowing that, we also know how to make it work with each other, and if opposites can work together, you can figure out a way. Knowing each other's strengths and their weaknesses helps you to understand that person better, and maybe how you need to approach people differently, um, with questions, with problems, with, with even good news sometimes. People take news differently, so Tracy Wallingford: Uh, abs- absolutely. And, uh, I can literally picture your side by side, you know, and your s- top strengths in the relationship building themes, empathy, um, I actually, uh, wrote them, wrote them down so I'd remember, but empathy, harmony, positivity. Um, if I remember, those are more towards the bottom of Steve's profile. Steve and Anne Scarsella: I'm quite the opposite. Everything in his top are very much on my bottom end. Tracy Wallingford: Uh, exactly. Because Steve, [00:07:00] you lead with Competition, Activator, go, go, go, Restorative, which is all about problem-solving and restoring order. You also have a relationship building theme there, Relator, and Futuristic. So you really see the Influencing and Anne, you see how you are connecting with all those wonderful humans that you've hired. So thinking about that, of course, you know the strengths philosophy is that we actually want diversity in our team, that differences are an advantage, and for you as Team Scarcella and leaders of Team Brothers, that actually gives you more themes and more strengths to draw on. How do you think the team experiences you differently as leaders? And I think Anne, you touched on it, they probably bring you different challenges. Talk, talk a little bit about what that looks like. Steve and Anne Scarsella: Um, I think that our team definitely comes to us differently with different situations depending on what it [00:08:00] is. Um What I like, I guess, if I may interrupt- Yeah. Mm-hmm ... is when we-- our team is so different, not having, let's call it 10 activators all on one management. One great thing I, I, I experience a lot with our leadership team is I want to... The activator, I'm aware of it, having them not have that in their top 10 slows it down to make better decisions, and that's sometimes the fast decision can be right, but the analytical person's gonna take that and be more precise with a solution. When the ultimate goal is to have precision for the customer, then we can get it done. My strength comes in to push it along a little quicker, [00:09:00] but they, they really slow that down in a good way, um, which is pretty awesome to have on our team. Tracy Wallingford: It is. And, um, thinking about your team grid, and we'll jump into how we, uh, how we engaged the team at our first, uh, very fun off-site here in Dallas. But thinking about your team grid, you actually have a pretty balanced team, and again, really that's what you're looking for. You know, all of the themes are covered when you look across all of the team. They lead with executing, which we find that most of our teams in landscaping lead with executing, that most of our the- the majority of our themes, or the largest number, for y'all it's 31%. So again, very, very balanced, but that's the largest set of themes, and that makes sense because in the work we do, we actually get things done, right? That's what it's all about. But you all have, I looked up the, uh, numbers this morning, 31% executing themes, uh, 27% relationship building, so back to those [00:10:00] humans. Strategic thinking's 24%, and then actually, um, and not surprisingly, i- influencing is less prevalent in the team. You bring many of those strengths to bear, Steve, but that balance gives you real power because it does help you slow down, think, process, think about the connections with your people, and then your role as leader is to make sure you're pushing things for- uh, pushing things forward Steve and Anne Scarsella: Correct. And then we've, we've been really working since working with you now, what, we're on our se- third time- Mm-hmm. Tracy Wallingford: Mm-hmm. Steve and Anne Scarsella: is working where people tend to stay excited and motivated when they're working in the, that top 10. And you pointed that out to us. We're getting to see it live and every day. So we have those exercises to show, [00:11:00] "Hey, this is where you naturally tend to work. Let's become awesome at this spot, and let's stay in this, this groove where you're good at." We're aware of our basement, but we don't need to stay in there. We just need to be aware of it and let's find someone else on the team that that basement is their strengths, their top 10. Yeah. 'Cause nobody wants to do the things that they hate to do and that they're not naturally good at, and realizing where our, our team's basements are, were almost as important as where their top levels were, so. Tracy Wallingford: Yeah. So let's, let's talk a little bit about that. When we first, uh... So we were in Italy together, and really the aha moment for you is, wow, it's actually really powerful to have language to talk about this. Because as you said, Anne, you knew this about each other. You knew the opposites attract, which is really what we often find. But to have the language to talk about that and to actually be able to communicate that to people and to your [00:12:00] team, right? This is my competition at work. Here's my activator. Here's my harmony. I'm getting uncomfortable in, uh, you know, if there is indeed disharmony. Well, that language is really powerful, and I think that's part of what you wanted to bring back to your team. Um, and then our first opportunity to do that was actually here in my hometown of Dallas, but that was off-site for you. So what... Tell, tell... Let's, let's talk about off-sites, because we obviously, with our Ace experiences, find it really powerful as a peer group to get away and work on the business. Tell, tell me more about what led you to do that with your team, sort of where that started and what that's done for your team kind of in the macro sense, and then we'll talk about it a little bit more in the micro sense about strengths. Steve and Anne Scarsella: Well, it started with our H trips. When getting offsite brings a clarity, also brings what's broken [00:13:00] at home, because things tend to break if the procedure's not in place. So Tracy Wallingford: Ah. Steve and Anne Scarsella: it exposes that, and we... people offsite started with a reward for them, our team doing their job. It's just that simple, I guess, is what the original simplicity of it was. Y'all are awesome, let's go do something together, but let's make sure it benefits the overall good of the company. And them being offsite just gives them a whole new focus. They're, they're not getting distracted by those cell phones, by the phone ringing at the office, by their team calling them going, "We're short some materials. We're missing something. The flat... the tire's flat." Um, so I th- we're on our fourth year now of our, uh, doing our annual trip and planning with them. Um, it's just reinvigorates the [00:14:00] entire team to tack, to, to tackle the year ahead. Doesn't mean we do everything perfect, but we definitely benefit as a, as a whole team to... You get to learn things about people when you stay with them too, because we're, we usually rent a giant house or, um, and bring everybody together. Uh, I think the time you came, uh, with Scott, we did a murder mystery and just, you got to see the, the, sometimes the lower competitiveness in people, but people did wanna win, which is awesome because what do you want a team to do? You want your team to win. And, uh, it was fun to watch that happen. Escape rooms we've done. Um, that shows strengths in people. You have to work as a team. Some people, the analytical guys were killing it. And then people like me that were just like, "I just wanna win, but I wanna do it fast." And they-- We needed those analytical people on our team. Unfortunately, that time we got beat by all the spouses. But we still made it out of the escape room, so, uh, a lot of fun. Um, so you learn a lot of[00:15:00] Tracy Wallingford: So it, Steve and Anne Scarsella: learning Tracy Wallingford: uh, okay, so t- tell me, so we did have fun with our murder mystery. T- Anne, tell me a little bit about the planning of this. So when you first started putting these together, one thing I love about what you do is that you do stay together. So the Dallas one that I got to participate in, you actually were in two houses sort of catty-corner from each other. Um, when you're thinking about where to go and planning it, how, how are you thinking about that? How are you thinking about sort of staying and fun and c- you know, sort of always together? Talk to me about that process, because I think this is a really fun topic for our listeners to think about. How do I actually, if you haven't done off-sites, how do I actually... Where do I start? How do I actually do this and be sure that it is not only fun, but beneficial? Steve and Anne Scarsella: Yeah. I think a lot of ours comes from, you know, we do travel a lot, not just with ACE, but [00:16:00] it, it, it kinda started that way and we did also bring the team, um, at least for the Dallas trip, we brought them to two different locations and let them visit other teams, kind of how we do with ACE. And again, we go on these trips and we come back and we just word vomit to them all of the things that we've learned, not realizing that the experience is as important as the message that we're bringing back. So we wanted them to have that same experience, go and see another shop. And it was amazing to see what they brought back with them. What did they see on the wall that, that really caught their eye? So not only whenever we go on these ACE trips do we have two people that were seeing these things, now we're bringing our whole team, and even if each person brought back just one thing, it just helped us to change things. It just helped them to open their eyes, too. So some of it was trying to think of where we wanted to go visit, um, and obviously who was, [00:17:00] uh, agreeable to us visiting their place with such a large team. Um, but then we also wanted to do, um, fun things, too. We try to think about, you know, we've been to Dallas a lot. We brought people or had food ordered or we brought them to some of our favorite restaurants, um, that we enjoy, and we wanted to share that experience with them, too. Um, staying all together just changes the dynamic because it's... You know, you could go to a hotel. Yes, it's nice to have your own space to go back to, but it's the after-hours conversations that happen late at night or early in the morning and people go to bed different and wake up different and, you know, you might have a conversation with this person in the evening, with this person in the morning. And just the, the, the small, simple things that you're learning when their guards are down. You know, you're not at work. It's not all serious. It's not all about customers. Um, and we did invite, you know, their spouses to come along, too, which, which is great for their spouses to [00:18:00] see what we're trying to build with their spouse. And having them be a part of that, it, it helps them to encourage them at home as well, I think. Yeah. And w- we got quite a bit of that from Jim Calli as well because Jim gave us his insight. He used to do a lot of planning for his teams at, at y'all. Um, and it-- he was a huge help on how to be inclusive, how to still give them their space but their own bedroom, um, the dietary restrictions, drink requests, everything that ACE does. You know, we got to piggyback on a lot of that to provide a A pleasurable and learning event, not just, uh, only half the team enjoys it. Everybody pretty much enjoys it. That our feedback's always been that. Yeah. And I think our team definitely enjoyed the trip, and I don't think ... [00:19:00] I have to say they were too stringent, but at the same time it was a lot of planning and a lot of stay on task. Let's stay on our itinerary. Even the fun things were scheduled. So, um, it, it's not for the faint of heart to, to plan something like this, the activities, the place to stay, the food, um- But you touched on it. Why was it so planned? When you're bringing roughly 20 people on an event, if you get too much lead time, it's gonna be herding cats. Yes. You're going to- You, you're going to not be able to keep the attention of the group and keep the, the whole process moving. Otherwise, you might as well just give everybody a voucher saying, "Here's 1,000 bucks. Go have a, a weekend off and enjoy it." Um, 'cause it, you have to have it planned. It has to be organized. Tracy Wallingford: Um, and, and, and it's a lot of work. So when do you... So usually you do this in January, or at least that's when I've been, been able to be [00:20:00] with you. When do you start the planning process? Steve and Anne Scarsella: October? Yeah, about October, three, four months in advance. So finding a Tracy Wallingford: And, and I Steve and Anne Scarsella: place to stay is probably the, the number one, you know, the location obviously and then the place to stay because whenever you're trying to find a, a house that'll hold that many people, um- And with the ACE network, it's nice 'cause you can reach out to other ACE members going, "I wanna come to your town. Would it be possible if we saw you?" You know, and that's a huge help there Tracy Wallingford: Yeah. Um, we had a, we had a great time. We actually not only got to go visit Complete Land Sculpture, our, uh, last year's, uh, GROW host, uh, and see Chris and Jean and their operation. They so generously, um, even le- loaned us their conference room for our strengths session. Steve and Anne Scarsella: Yeah, no, that was very appreciative of them letting us do that, so. Andhis, um, lead sales and marketing guy that came to speak to [00:21:00] us, Um, what amount of gold that Mr. Gene grabbed him and said, "Let him talk to you for a little bit." And just the amount of knowledge that team has as a whole to share to a smaller team like us was just, um, un... What's the word for it? Unreplaceable. Mm-hmm. You can't, can't... So it was awesome Tracy Wallingford: yeah. It's, uh, I mean, just, I mean, that is literally what ACE is all about, right? Is actually experience share and the fact that, uh, Gene was able to grab him, and he was able to share his experience with your entire team. I think that goes back to what you said in the beginning, which is it's, um, not just us coming back and reporting the learning, but it's in fact getting them to experience that. And in fact, that i- whole concept is, was the genesis of our leaders circle. So, um, let me ask one more planning question, and I'll just put you on the spot. Do you think about a... I mean, is there a budget? Do you think about a per person amount? Do you go in [00:22:00] thinking about a budget, or do you start in October, where do we wanna go? Who can we visit? Where can we stay? And then kind of work the numbers from there Steve and Anne Scarsella: I, yeah, I think it, it starts with that, like you said, and then we try to work the numbers. Um- Yeah. We definitely have a budget in mind. If there's a special dinner we wanna share with the team or, um, an event that just puts it outside of the budget, we will try to make that happen, um, just because the, our team's worth it. Uh, there's nothing else that can be said about that. Uh- Tracy Wallingford: Well, that's, um, that's a perfect segue to where I want to go, because what I want to talk a little bit about is what, what we learn while we're there. So we get to break bread, we get those late night and early conversations, so we really get that camaraderie. But let's talk a little bit about our strengths work, because really [00:23:00] you all wanted to bring that language to the team. You had, you had a phenomenal team to start, so this was not, um, remedial in any way. It was really about strengthening bonds. What, um, what do you feel like they took away from that first session in Dallas? We, you know, we were at Complete Land Sculpture. We really, um, had everyone done their assessment, and really for the first time you were sharing those words and those terms and those strengths ideas with each other. What do you feel like they took home from that? Steve and Anne Scarsella: I believe it was a very aha moment of I've been seen. Um, because it was a way to explain themselves that is, I guess, very eloquent when you get that CliftonStrengths report, um, without just bragging about yourself going, "You see, this is why I do [00:24:00] this." It, it's more of, "You see me now and this is how I am, and thank you for recognizing it." Tracy Wallingford: I, I love that. It's so hard Steve and Anne Scarsella: of it too is Yeah, that's okay. I was gonna say, um, them getting to talk to each other and the, um... I really think that it's such a powerful exercise. The what I need from you exercise is it gives them a chance to say, in a safe space, "This is what I need. I need you to hear me. I need you to see me." Exactly what he's saying. Well, Tracy Wallingford: Hi Steve and Anne Scarsella: one big thing it opened up was with our long-term friend, landscape lead. He is the-- runs the entire department for new construction, and he needs a little bit of a backstory when you and I talk about him. And he wants... He trusts [00:25:00] your, your experience, but he needs to know it. Why do you have this experience? And he gets that backstory from you that you're not just telling him it goes this way, he understands that I actually did this, I lived it, I know it, and then he accepts it and runs with it. Um, that was one of the biggest moments for me with him because he's been on our team for so long, and super, uh, friend, team member, everything. We do stuff outside of work, but it brought us to another level within the company to be able to talk to each other a little bit better at a... Shit, I don't know if him and I really even yelled at each other since that 'cause I, I-I'm a person that can yell and I'm over it 30 seconds later and move on with my day. But it, it's pretty awesome that it's brought us that much further in being able to communicate about work. It's produced-- It's helped the client [00:26:00] experience, uh, just because we can communicate better. 'Cause he was getting primarily his handoffs from me for projects, and I wasn't speaking the right language, and I needed to- And it was very frustrating for both of you, I think. It was. Tracy Wallingford: So a little, a little, a little frustration. So A, I had actually not heard that you once yelled and you didn't, so I'm gonna consider that, uh, one of, uh, one of the big wins in my strengths work. But, but let's talk about that because, um, as an influencer, right, leading with influencing themes, especially the competition, the activator, you are go, go, go. And as an owner, oftentimes we don't feel like we need to explain ourselves, that it's clear this is where, this is where we're going, right? You've got futuristic. This is where we're going. Here's how we get there. Let's go. So sounds to me like there's real power in understanding that he needs a little more [00:27:00] of the why, and that once you give him that time and you invest that time, he then is on board and can make it happen Steve and Anne Scarsella: Yeah. And one of the things we continue to work on is knowing your strengths is an awareness. It's not a crutch. You don't go, "Oh, you're competitive. You're an activist. That's just why this happens." It's, no, you're aware of it now. Let's... A strength can be a weakness too if you let it dominate in the wrong way. So we take and we're aware of it, but not just tell people it, I did that because I, I'm a learner, or I'm an activator, or I'm a com- I'm competitive. Um, we need to pay attention to the situations. We're aware of it now, and how do we utilize the strength to be an advantage, not a weakness. You mean your competition gets in the way for you [00:28:00] sometimes? Yes, very much. Tracy Wallingford: You couldn't have, I couldn't have asked that better myself. How, how does, how does... Let's talk about that. How does your competition get in the way? And how do you, now that you recognize that, what do you do differently? Steve and Anne Scarsella: I'll take a breath before I make a decision, especially when it's in a, um, family or team environment. When I'm alone, I'll let my competition run wild. But it, it... you, you have to... Almost with competition being so high, you have to tell yourself, "I'm not winning 'cause I choose not to win." Like leaving a red light, something as simple as that. You look over- Yeah ... and you're like, "I'm not gonna win this 'cause I don't wanna win. I hope he knows that." You know? The person. But it, it, it's, um... it can be a blinder with being that number one, being so strong. Um, so once [00:29:00] again, awareness of it protects you a little bit in the long run, and then when I need to dig into it, because we're- odds are stacked up against us on a project or in a, a competitive bid or something, I can dig into it and find a way, hopefully, to success in, in that moment Tracy Wallingford: I, I, I lo- I love that. Um, Anne, any ways you see that competition? Um, because I hear, again, I love what you said about blinders, right? We talk a lot about blind spots that yes, all of our, all of our strengths teams, when we are at our best, we're in our balcony, and when we're, you know, at our worst, we can be in our basement or frankly, w- a blind spot that we don't even recognize. And I think that's something we've talked about, especially this year when I got to Zoom back in for, uh, the Oklahoma offsite. We really got to dig into those concepts that, you know, when we, when we're at our best, that's really what we're trying to get out of everyone, [00:30:00] and more awareness of what it looks like when they're, you know, our strengths are overused or misapplied or under stress, right? Which we, I mean, we're coming out of the 100 days of, uh, victory, right? As, uh, I s- I steal from Coastal Greenery. There can be some stress, uh, around the work we do Steve and Anne Scarsella: I, I think that, um, just since we've, we've been doing these exercises, especially for him being aware of it, it... He can... He's aware of it, so he's playing to it to where, "Okay, guys, we're gonna do this. Just know I'm being competitive right now." Like, so it helps him to make it more fun, and for other people to understand and, and I guess remember he's, he is competitive. Like, that it's something that is innate in him. He just can't- It, it also- He can try to, uh, help. It, it also brings a... With [00:31:00] competition and activator, I have to sit back and recognize people are going to solve problems a different way from me in the restorative part. That's okay. And it has to be okay. Yeah. You have to step back and, and not just lean into it. This is my strength, so everybody needs to do it my way. There's a reason we hired this great team and put them together. It's because they do things different. So- And I think you've done a great job of recognizing that in people, too. Yeah. Um, you know, telling them, "This is how I would've handled it, but I'm so glad that I let you handle it this way. You did a great job. This person reacted better to your situation rather than how I would've reacted it." And I think only difficult times have come with some of our tenured team that have been there 15 years plus. They see we do things a little different, the language is different. They almost take it as, "Well, why aren't we as military as we were?" I said, "We, we have a lot of personalities now, and we need to let [00:32:00] them shine where they do the best work." And they've come fully on board. Um, I was nervous a few of the tenured team was going to want to leave because the, the company has changed, and they've seen it change for the better. It's not just a It's still competitive, it's still strong. It's just a little b- little bit more eloquent, is the word, with the communication, and we get to get things done not quite as pressured. Instead of just like an activator will wait last second and just go, "We're gonna knock it out," and no worries about it, but that'll drive her nuts if I wait, you know, to the last second and go, "It's still gonna be just as good as it was." No, we can plan on it and actually do it with less chaos Tracy Wallingford: Well, I think less chaos really works for, um, many of us. Um, and looking at your team makeup, it certainly, uh, helps, uh, helps [00:33:00] some of your team, I think, thrive. And it sounds like that really shows up in the customer experience as well. 'Cause I don't know, I don't know many customers who actually want chaos in Steve and Anne Scarsella: No, uh, not at all. But other team that it's helped with is we have a fantastically intelligent individual in our drainage and irrigation division. He communicates different. Not in a bad way, just different. And once you helped us with his communication level, our relationship has blossomed a lot better to give him what he needs, and he's thriving and, and doing well at his job. We still face our challenges that we need to. Um, once again, I don't wanna paint anybody watching this going, "They just have this A team because they did CliftonStrengths." We are on our third or fourth- ... run with you, but you, you have a basis to start the right language and move [00:34:00] forward with some great team that are there that might move on if we can't speak their language. And that's, you know, it's helped with our director of operations. He's a, another fantastically smart individual, and he's very process-oriented. He wants it documented and move forward with it. Our, our, our tenured, uh- And he is not empathetic. No, he's the third... And he- It, it took him a while to understand that sympathy and empathy are different Tracy Wallingford: Mm, yeah Steve and Anne Scarsella: That was, uh... But then our lawn, our lawn department is, uh, very much Very eye-opening to get his, his CliftonStrengths because we see why he's so great at building a great team, and he, it's, it's, it's like, "That's why you're so good at that." You get to see it in writing. It's so nice. Yeah. And I think it's important, too, to note that, [00:35:00] you know, we've done it just with our team twice, and almost the same people, and both times have been great, and it's, it's kind of a great refresher, and you approached it differently, too, that second time of, "Okay, we've already done the base thing. We don't need to do the base one again. How can we make it better?" So it, it was kind of a quick review, and then- Yeah ... moved to the next step. So I, I thought that it was still great. I mean, just a one and done. I mean, w- we're always learning in everything. Why can't we still learn about ourselves and about each other? And, and the offsites, going back to that real quick, is we brought our team to grow. We brought sales team to sales, uh, events, production team to production events. Once they build that confidence from the offsites and doing tours, like at Complete Land Sculpture, and they get to go to these events, and they get to start helping other team. And man, that [00:36:00] fills them so good. It fills me, uh, to tears almost, 'cause I walk around, and I... Holy smokes, these people r- really know what they're doing. It's so exciting to see, 'cause they're help- They don't need me anymore. So they, they, they've learned so much by, from the offsites that you can't, almost can't pay enough to have them. Tracy Wallingford: Yeah. I, well, I hear a lot of things in there. One of the things I really hear is your leadership maturity, Steve. I mean, we've known each other now for years, and I've really gotten to see you and brothers grow. I've gotten to spend some time with your brother, um, in his, uh, his branch. But really that l- that maturity of recognizing there's multiple ways to do things, and my way is not the only way, right? And actually having that wisdom and maturity and leadership capability to let people try a different way, even when sometimes you're sitting on your hands and, [00:37:00] uh, you know, wanting to say something, but really helping them build those skills, because we see that all the time, right? People, um, you know, have the will and want to do more, but they might not get the opportunity, right? So if they, you know, if they have the will and they don't have the skills, you can teach the skills, but if they don't have a chance to use them, then they're not going to stay with you, and I think that's really what a lot of this is about. I think I loved the way you said it that we've got to speak their language so we keep, we inspire them and we keep them and we keep them engaged. And that's really, you know, one of the most interesting thing about strengths is the research tells us, you know I love all that research, but the research actually tells us that knowing each other's strengths is actually more important on the team than having a particular set of strengths. Steve and Anne Scarsella: Yeah Tracy Wallingford: I talk about that all the time, right? When we get all of our owners [00:38:00] together, we have l- many successful owners, you know, over 200 companies, and all of you are unique in your own ways. So there's not one set of strengths that makes you good at any insert here job. Your irrigation guy, your production, your, you know, any of these people. But understanding each other's strengths and allowing each of you to bring those to the table. And again, all the research tells us that they're more engaged, they're more likely to tell people they work for a good company, they're more likely to stay when they actually get to tap into what makes them their best Steve and Anne Scarsella: Yeah. And I also think being off-site, it helps you to have those serious discussions, but then also play with the words and play with the, "I'm competitive, I'm futuristic, I'm..." It helps you to kind of play with that, too, in the after-hours. So I, I think it makes it fun, too. And one of the [00:39:00] things we learned with our facilitators, which now you are one of them, and, um, and Jim, is that you don't always have your one-on-one in your office. You don't always have your one-on-one in their office. You go mobile. You, you move. You do it in unfamiliar spots. So that's what the off-site is, so that you get a more natural feeling, uh, conversation with your team Tracy Wallingford: I, I love that. And it actually shows that you're investing in your team, because you're bringing their spouses in a lo- you know, in a lot of cases, you're bringing a significant other. So I think it really actually helps them see what you're investing in your team and really helping them to be their best. And, as we kn- as we love about strengths, it doesn't stop at the workplace. It actually, they go, they go with us when we go home to those spouses and those families or those four lovely ladies you got to take out to lunch, uh, today, right? Um, and that we're really [00:40:00] investing to help them be their best self, right? Not just their best Brothers employee, and I think that message is really powerful for our teams and our, you know, our teams, our customers, um, really, uh, just elevates the Brothers ecosystem. Any, um, I appreciate you all being here with me today. Any last thoughts you want to share? Um, we could go on another hour at least. Um, you have such, you have such an impressive team. You all have really invested in this. I love, Anne, that you brought up that this is really about ongoing, and I sp- get to spend enough time with you in our peer group to know that this is not language you only use when I show up on Zoom or, um, in your offsite, that you guys are really trying to engage in this and talk about it and using tools like our Bring/Need. Here's what I bring to the table, and because of that, here's what I need from you to do my best work, right? That's such a powerful concept. Well, we [00:41:00] so, we so appreciate you all joining us. Um, and thank you so much to Ann and Steve Scarcella from the Brothers team, and thank you to you, our viewers, for joining us today for Roots of Success. We, uh, look forward to seeing you on our next episode or our next, uh, ACE experience, um, somewhere, somewhere fabulous Speaker: Thank you for listening to this episode of Roots of Success, brought to you by the subject matter Experts at McFarlin Stanford have a question you want our coaches to tackle in a future episode. You could submit that@McFarlinstanford.com slash podcast. And to find more helpful content from McFarlin Stanford, follow us on X, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook. If this or any of our episodes have piqued your interest in ACE Peer Group. We encourage you to join us at Ace Discovery. Just check out the events tab@McFarlinstanford.com This is Jason New co-founder and principal at McFarlin Stanford. We'll see you next time.