What to Look for in a Crew Leader

As a lawn care business owner, you know how important it is to hire the right people for the job. When it comes to growing your business, the most important people are arguably your crew leaders. These crew leaders are the ones who will be responsible for managing your team and ensuring that the job is done right when you aren’t around to hold the line on quality and efficiency. As such, you need to make sure that your crew leader has the right qualities to ensure that your business runs smoothly and efficiently.

Qualities To Look For In A Crew Leader

The first quality that you should look for in your crew leader is character.

When you are hiring someone to lead your team, you want someone who is honest and trustworthy. You need to make sure that your crew leader has the integrity to follow through with promises and do what is right for the business. In addition, you want to make sure that your crew leader is someone who is reliable and dependable. This is important because you want to be able to trust that your crew leader will be there when you need them and deliver on what you have coached them to do.

The second quality that you should look for in your crew leader is humility.

This quality is important because it means that your crew leader will be willing to take criticism and learn from mistakes. You want someone who is open to feedback and willing to make changes when necessary. You also want someone who is humble enough to recognize their own shortcomings and be willing to ask for help when needed.

The third quality that you should look for in your crew leader is a strong work ethic.

You want someone who is willing to put in the extra effort to get the job done right because these are the behaviors you want their crew members to emulate.

The fourth quality that you should look for in your crew leader is strong leadership capability.

It has been said that a leader with no followers is just taking a walk. A crew leader that can’t lead will waste precious resources (both time and money) and cause you more than one headache.

• You want someone who is able to think on their feet and make quick and informed decisions.
• You also want someone who is able to motivate the team to reach their goals and keep morale high.
• You need someone who is able to delegate tasks, manage conflicts, and create an atmosphere of team unity.

The fifth quality that you should look for in your crew leader is chemistry.

You want to make sure that the person you hire is someone who will be able to work well with the rest of your team. You want someone who will be able to fit in with the culture of your business and be able to get along with everyone.

Do They Have Prior Experience?

Ideally your crew leader has the benefit of prior experience. While it is not necessary to have prior experience as a crew leader in the lawn care industry, it can be very beneficial. Someone with prior experience can provide valuable insight into how to best manage a team and ensure that the job is done right and deal with less of the learning curve necessary to hit full stride. They may also be able to offer advice on how to manage customer expectations or how to handle common issues that may arise.

Still, be willing to take a risk on someone if they don’t have all the right experience. You can coach and train them in the proper skillset… actually you should prepare to do this even if they have experience since there are likely to be discrepancies in how your company handled situations versus how the crew leader’s prior company did. The point here is that if the candidate has good character and you like them, take a risk on them. You may find that they have the potential to do great things and be an asset to your business.

Hire Slow, Fire Fast

The majority of your effort to get the right person in the position of crew leader should be done in the hiring process (hence, hire slow). This is where you vet their character, gauge potential chemistry with the team, check for other qualities that are important to you, and even do a trial run of a workday to see how it goes. Once everything is satisfactory to you, hire the person!

But let’s assume that you get a couple weeks in and you realize that the newly appointed crew leader misrepresented themselves and is now causing your faithful crew members to want to leave. What do you do? Be willing to fire them… and fast. Though painful, it’s not worth the damage to your company that you worked so hard to build.

Finding the right crew leader for your lawn care business is essential for the success of your business. By keeping these qualities in mind, you can ensure that you are making the best decision for your business.