Nexstar® Members Focuson Superior Leadership

Kiss Theory Goodbye is also the title of Prosen’s best-selling book in which he highlights "Five Proven Ways to Get Extraordinary Results in Any Company."

Nexstar members gathered in Clearwater Beach, Florida, March 19-20, to work on their businesses. They walked away with tangible tactics for sharpening their leadership skills and turning the tide toward a consistently profitable business. One member company was so inspired by Prosen’s presentation, that their management team skipped dinner on opening night to implement his principles.

Kevin Wolf, President of Laney’s, Inc. a Plumbing and HVAC company in Fargo, North Dakota says his team was so energized that they started a three-hour strategic planning session.

Wolf picked out these key messages from Prosen’s presentation:

• Leadership is the relentless pursuit of vision and results.
• We can’t let cash flow get in the way of being entrepreneurial.
• Great leaders never give up – fearless determination and passion brings results.
• Great organizations change before they have to. Typically, if the pain of change is higher than the pain a business owner is experiencing; they resist moving to a higher level of pain.

Nexstar’s Owners’ Spotlight Series is designed to help business leaders dramatically improve their company’s
performance and profitability.

Marlene Solomon of Bruce Solomon Plumbing, Heating and Air near Baltimore, says she’ll take Bob Prosen’s advice for hiring people:

• Hire people who are smarter than you and know what you don’t.
• Hire people you know or who have been referred to you – it eliminates risk.
• Always assess your job candidate pool. Keep building your list of candidates so you have it when you need it.

Solomon says she learned a hiring tactic that she’s going to use the next time she has a job candidate in her office. “I really liked what he said about hiring practices, specifically his recommendation to ask a potential employee for a single-page description of what they intend to accomplish in the first 60-days,” she says. “The next time I interview someone that I’m serious about hiring, I’m going to ask them for their plan. It will show me their perceptiveness and strategic thinking.”

Roberto Luongo of Bosco Plumbing of Brampton, Ontario found new ideas for improving employee communication, and rewarding them for good work:

• Ask employees to sign confidentiality agreements because you don’t want your secrets going to the competition.
• Hire accountable people and tell them to tell you what they need, so you can help them win.
• When a roadblock appears for an employee, take the time to ask them “why” three times because if you do, the real answer will surface.

Luongo offered this exchange as an example:
Employer: Why didn’t you get the project done?
Employee: I didn’t have enough time.
Employer: Why?
Employee: Because I had so many other responsibilities.
Employer: Why?
Employee: Because I didn’t manage my time.
Employer: So is it safe to say we won’t need to revisit this?
Employee: Yes.
Employer: Do I have your word?
Employee: Yes.

Overall, Bob Prosen was clear that:

• Superior leadership drives results.
• Superior leaders devote time and energy to their whole business and not just the most comfortable and likeable aspects.
• Superior leaders most important responsibility is to remove roadblocks so their people do their job.

Nexstar’s Owners’ Spotlight Series is designed to help business leaders dramatically improve their company’s performance and profitability. Nexstar is a business-development and best practices organization delivering comprehensive business training, systems and support to independent home service plumbing, heating and air conditioning professionals across the continent. Nexstar members get rapid results, guided by experienced coaches, surefire systems and incredible peer connections.

For more information visit nexstarnetwork.com.