Elevating Trades Leadership: Insights from Corey's Evolution

Are you ready to unlock the secrets of transformative leadership within the bustling arenas of HVAC, plumbing, and electrical industries? Strap in as I, Corey Berrier, whisk you away on a journey through my own trials and triumphs at Six and Fix, revealing how a sprinkle of appreciation and a dash of clear vision can rally a team to exceptional performance. From the gritty transition of tradesman to savvy entrepreneur to the art of decision-making and whipping up team spirit, this episode is your all-access pass to mastering the symphony of leading with intent.

Embark on a quest for personal development and discover how empathy and emotional intelligence turn everyday conflicts into collaborative triumphs. Hear firsthand tales of feedback that forge ironclad leadership skills, and peer into the crystal ball of trade's future as AI emerges as an indispensable sidekick. Celebrate the unsung heroes of the skilled trades and grasp the urgency of self-improvement in an industry thirsty for innovation and expertise. Join me for a conversation that's as riveting as it is enlightening, a masterclass in steering your ship with purpose amidst the ever-evolving tides of the business seascape.

Chapters

• 0:57 Importance of Effective Leadership in Business
• 11:44 Building Leadership Through Personal Development
• 25:30 Importance of Self-Improvement in Trades

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:57

Welcome to the Successful Life Podcast. I'm your host, corey Barrier. Today, folks, we're going to be talking about why it's important to be a good leader. The importance of leadership is crucial. The importance of effective leadership is crucial because, look, if you want to grow and you want to grow a smooth operation in the HVAC, plumbing or electrical industry, you've got to become a good leader.

Speaker 1: 1:33

Now, a good leader is often defined in many different ways. A good leader is someone that's going to show you how to do the things that you're delegated to do. A good leader is going to have a vision of where the company's going. A good leader is going to lead by example, lead by example. And, look, it is very hard to do all of those things perfectly. It's almost impossible to do all those things perfectly, but you got to strive if you want to get better every day, to become a better leader, and the way you do that is through one example is through reciprocity.

Speaker 1: 2:24

Right when I came on to, when I started working here at Six and Fix, you know when we I live in Raleigh, north Carolina, where we where the home base is here and the owner took the leadership team to a hurricanes carolina, hurricanes game and we had a box and it was really. It was really nice, it was really cool and it made me made myself and the rest of the team feel like we were valued. Now, you, you don't have to do that every you know, you don't have to do that specifically, but that was cool. It made us feel like we were a part of a great team and so, therefore, when you start out that way, your employees will work harder for you. I, you know, I give everything that I've got, every second that I'm here and lots of times, even times that I'm not here, because that level of reciprocity is important. Show your employees that you care and you're going to get more out of them. Show them that you are willing to do the work that you're asking them to do. They're going to work harder for you, and you know my boss, the owner here, is a great example of he's going to put in the work, he's going to get down the ditch, he's going to get in the attic, he's going to do the things that he's asking the employees to do, he's going to run a sales call and he's going to close the deal. And here's the thing like if you can't lead by example. What example are you setting? And I would just have you ask yourself you know that's important and the role of reciprocity here giving a you know, showing us a great time at the Hurricanes game, then now I'm bought into going that extra mile and that's my nature anyhow is to kind of go the not kind of to go the extra mile, and I do a lot of work on myself, as I'm sure you do.

Speaker 1: 4:39

So you know, as a leader you got to have vision and direction. Leaders provide a clear vision and direction that will guide the team towards common goals. Whether that be community service work, whether that be hitting goals, whether that be completing a certain number of sales or memberships or whatever that may be. The leader has to paint the vision of where we're going, our industry in the HVAC, plumbing and electrical industry. It's a fine line of being that visionary leader and someone who understands business, because a lot of guys started out in the truck, like a lot of guys, most guys in this industry started out doing the work, doing the hard work, and it's lots of times really challenging to move from out of the truck into a business owner. And if that's you and likely, it is because that's a lot of people in the trades.

Speaker 1: 5:57

Don't beat yourself up, you're not supposed to know how to run a business, but you best learn, because if you don't, you're just going to be spinning your wheels and I can tell you right now that's not a lot of fun. You can't expect to jump out of a truck and know how to run a smooth operation right out the gate, and a lot of people just don't think about all the moving parts that happen in a business. There's no way you can think about it because you don't have the experience. And so you've got to get that experience. You got to ask a lot of questions, you got to be willing to fail, because you're not going to be successful right out of the gate and remain that way without some sort of help. And you've got to make critical decisions that impact projects, that impact families, that impact customers, and that's a lot of stuff to think about. But you have to really hone in on all of those areas and you've got to be organized, and that's also hard for a lot of guys in the industry and me, including myself. I've figured out ways to habit stack and to um, to stay more organized than I used to be. For sure I don't have it down 100, but um, you know, and when making the decisions about the business, they have to be timely.

Speaker 1: 7:39

Lots, lots of times, especially right now it's getting hot. You've got a lot of moving parts. You've got to schedule your sales guys. You've got to schedule calls. You've got to get your CSRs all moving in the right direction. You've got to get your install teams lined up ready to rock and roll, because if not, next day is going to be a tough day. And you got to minimize risks and maximize efficiency if you want to run a well-oiled machine. Right.

Speaker 1: 8:14

You got to also think about motivation, right. You also got to be the cheerleader for the employees, and that's a different role than what you're used to Usually. You know, when you're in a truck, you're a cheerleader for the customer. But you've got to move from the mindset of being that cheerleader for the customer to empowering your team members through motivating them, to empowering your team members through motivating them. You've got to empower your team members and motivate them through so they empower and motivate the customer. This creates a positive work environment as well.

Speaker 1: 8:58

You know, having a high morale in this industry is tough because there's a lot of stress, and you know we juggle a lot of balls, especially at the beginning of the business. There's a lot of things that happen You're just not going to be used to and you're going to have things that are going to throw you for a loop and you're going to have things go sideways, and how you handle those things, it's vital. It's vital to the, to the heartbeat of the company. So you know, the next thing that I want to talk about is there's going to be conflict and there's got to be going to be conflict resolution and as the leader, even in my role as the sales manager, there's conflict, right? I mean, I'm the guy between upper, like you know, the owner, or the owners, rather and my sales team, the inside sales team, the CSRs, and so I've got to find a balance of how to make sure I'm keeping all those folks happy, and sometimes I don't, I don't succeed at that. Sometimes I make wrong decisions it's going to happen for sure. But you've got to be able to try to maintain a level of harmony within the team and within the owners, and that's why they put, you know, that's why I'm in the position that I am is because I can balance those things, and it's important to find someone in your management team that can also be a leader and manage conflict, because it's going to happen and look if you can resolve conflict effectively and fairly within the team. It's going to minimize disruption Within the team. It's going to minimize disruption. It's going to make your job, your business, your company run better, make your sales team run better, make your technicians run better.

Speaker 1: 11:19

So let's talk about mutual respect. Reciprocity is an example of mutual respect. Reciprocity is an example of mutual respect. Leaders who show mutual respect get mutual respect back. When you value your team members, when you tell them they're doing a good job, when you tell them they're kicking ass, when you give them a high five, it makes them feel like a million bucks.

Speaker 1: 11:44

Sometimes you've got to talk to your employees about things that are non-work related. Maybe they're going through a divorce, maybe they're going through a tough time with their kid and they just need somebody to talk to, and maybe you're the guy they need to talk to, or maybe you're the person they just want to vent to, and sometimes you got to have those conversations at inconvenient times. But what happens then is you get collaboration with that team member and you get better teamwork and reciprocity encourages collaboration amongst the team, and if you acknowledge the team's efforts, they're going to work harder for you, they're going to make you more money. And I have to do the same thing in my role. I have to acknowledge when. Same thing in my role I have to acknowledge when my guys do something really well. I've also got to be the guy that has a conversation when they're not doing things really well, and a balance of that is really important in a business. And so you know, effective teamwork also results in better problem solving. Right. If you can collaborate with your team on situations that you're just going to have a better resolution. That's all I'm saying. You know you also want to be engaged with your employees.

Speaker 1: 13:58

When leaders engage with their employees and take interest in what they want or what they're talking about or what's going on in their life, it makes people feel good because maybe that's the only you're the only person that they can have that conversation with. Maybe there's such a level of trust there that they value your opinion. And lots of times we don't want to take the time out of our day to have those conversations, because those conversations feel like they're not making us money and those conversations feel like they're ridiculous, that you would have to have a conversation about why someone's kid may have ADHD or why someone's wife is acting crazy. But guess what, maybe, maybe that just makes them feel better. And when you feel good, you work good and when you have a positive attitude, people love that and they want to be around you. Ask for feedback and get it. Get feedback on how you can improve. I ask every single time. So you know we run a process here, much like you know the best practice groups, where you know if my guys are at a call and they can't close a deal right there, then they call me and I talk through it with the customer. Now I'm not necessarily saying anything. That is that vastly different than what they said, but sometimes that customer just needs that extra layer of assurance. Or maybe I just need to break down why the financing is the way it is and why they should go with this option opposed to another option. And the sales guy may have done all that, but they just didn't hear it from him and that's okay. It's nothing against him. It's just how they communicate right and how people communicate and how people are communicated with and how that's received sometimes is vastly different.

Speaker 1: 16:09

I'm sure if you're married or if you've got kids, you've run into a situation where you said hey, you know I'm just going to use a stupid example hey, you know, if you use Clorox on my whites, they'll come out brighter. And you may have told your wife or your significant other that a thousand times and she didn't hear it. And our best friend says hey, you ever use Clorox on your whites? No, that's a great idea, I think I'll do that. And you're like well, hey, you know, sarah, said my best friend, sarah said I should use Clorox on the whites. And you think to yourself yeah, yeah, dummy, I've been telling you that for like three years, but you can't really say that. You just got to bite your tongue and move on. You got the result that you were looking for.

Speaker 1: 16:57

And so my point in telling you that story is I always ask how could I have done better? After I get done with a call, if, when, they, when, the, when the sales guy calls me and we either close it or we don't close it, I ask how can I have improved on that call? What could I have said differently that would have moved that sale forward? Because I'm open to feedback, as you should be open to feedback. If you're not open to feedback in in uh for improvement, then then you may just think you know everything, and that's not a great place to be. I'll be honest with you, and I've learned a lot of this through my my personal development. Self-development, um, it makes such a difference in your mindset of how you look at people, how you react to people, your tonality, your body language. It all helps with that. And self-development helps leaders understand different leaderships, different leadership styles, and adapt their approach based on the situation and what the team needs.

Speaker 1: 18:18

Because if you can use empathy right I talk about empathy a lot If you can put yourself in the other person's shoes for a moment, likely you can help them see where they're going, and people want to know that you care, and the best way to do that is through empathy and this enhances your emotional intelligence. So emotional intelligence is how do you handle situations when they come up? Let's say that it is a conflict resolution situation. Do you flip out? Do you cower down? Do you just not say anything? All of those things are not displaying the best emotional intelligence. The best emotional intelligence is being able to take a second reflect on what they're saying, listen, reflect on what they're saying and then, through empathy, give them the solution or help them to see the solution that is best for them. And you can do this through building your communication skills, through effective communication and active listening. For sure, it's the cornerstone of leadership, and developing yourself into having better communication skills and improving your leadership ability through self-development helps you to look introspectively and it also fosters a more inclusive and transparent environment.

Speaker 1: 20:08

But you've got to be able to put in the work. You know, instead of listening to your favorite radio station or your favorite I mean, obviously you're going to listen to this podcast. That would be your favorite first, obviously, outside of just listening to this podcast, if you're listening to, I'll give you a great example. You know a lot of guys love sports and I like sports, but I'm not a sports fanatic Like you're never going to catch me listening to sports radio to find out what's going on in the sports world. I just don't care that much and, plus, I feel like for me it's a waste of time. I would rather be listening to a book that's going to help me to be able to communicate better, listen better and to be able to be a better leader for my team, but that's what I like. That's not necessarily what you like, but hey, how much are you gaining by listening to sports radio for two hours when you're in the van or two hours when you're in your truck or on your way to work? It's not doing you an ounce of good to know what teams are coming up to be in hockey or football or who won or who cares Like. Does it really matter to you? Does it really matter what's going on in the sports world? You're not an NFL player. You're not an NFL player. You're not an NBA player. You're not any player. You're a player in your business. You're a player in your company and that's what you should be focused on if you want to be the best that you can be.

Speaker 1: 21:45

I listen to a ton of books because I want to get better every single day. By the way, shameless plug, my book will be coming out on Audible, hopefully in the next 10 or 15 days. I've been using a company called BookBoostai to put all this stuff together to um and get it ready for audible, which, if you haven't heard of book boost, doc dot AI, you need to go check it out because it is like it is like, you know, getting your book on all the steroids because you don't have to do anything and it's all AI generated content. It's all AI generated with your voice and it's incredible and I dude like it is wild to listen to your own book in that audible format.

Speaker 1: 22:56

So you know, when you develop problem-solving abilities, you're going to be a better leader period. Enhancing your problem solving abilities is paramount to a successful business, to a successful sales team, to a successful CSR team, to a successful inside team. You know you've just got. You just want to like, you've got to be able to solve problems right then and there to be a good leader. And if you don't have the answer, the answer is I'm going to find out for you right now and then go do that and execute on your promise, because if you don't execute on your promise, you're allowing distraction to get in the way. You're just breaking promises to yourself. You're you're just breaking promises to yourself.

Speaker 1: 23:50

And look, leaders that invest in personal development, in personal they grow, and personal growth is should be something that's very important to you because it helps you to work through challenges and make more sound decisions. And you know, I mentioned this a minute ago, leading by example. You know leaders that commit to developing themselves both personally and professionally. They show it gives a positive example for your team, it shows that you're putting in the work for your team members and this encourages a culture of learning and growing and self-improvement within the organization. So look, just to kind of wrap this up I know I've gone on and on about this because I think it's vitally important as a leader, as a business owner, as a sales team, as a sales manager, as an install manager, as a service manager, you've got to be able to answer questions when they're asked and not BS, because nobody wants you to BS, they just don't. So invest in yourself. Invest in developing yourself through books, through podcasts, just like this one, through Waste no Day podcast, which is one of my favorite podcasts to listen to. Case though day podcast, which is one of my favorite podcasts to listen to.

Speaker 1: 25:30

Don't get caught in the weeds because you can be distracted by Tik TOK and Instagram and Facebook reels. But really, is it doing you any good? Are you learning anything by scrolling through and seeing what everybody else is doing? I would argue that it's not doing you any good. That it builds a level of comparison. Oh, that guy's doing this, I wish I could be there. Or, man, I wish I had that guy's life. Or I wish I had her life. Or I wish that company, I wish I was working for that company, because they're kicking ass. Be the company that kicks ass. Be the company.

Speaker 1: 26:04

When they see your video, when they see this video, they think to themselves damn, I wish I had a leader like that in my company, because most don't have good leaders. Most are flying by the seat of their pants trying to juggle 70,000 balls in the air at once. And there's still always going to be a level to that. There's always going to be part of that. That's never going to go away. But you can minimize it by looking introspectively, by developing your skill set as a leader, and the impact on you investing in yourself is going to be tenfold what it would be if you're investing your time listening to some stupid comedy show or some stupid sports radio show.

Speaker 1: 26:58

Use the windshield time to to learn, to grow, to build, to build yourself into the person that you know you can be. And look, I know you might be thinking, corey, I don't have time to do that, but you do have time to do it. Make the time. We all have the same amount of time every single day, 24 hours a day. What is important to you? What is it that you value in your life? And if growth, if being a good leader, if being successful in your life is important, then this has got to be important, because you can't grow if you don't work on yourself. You just can't. So, look, go check out the link in the show notes. Just a quick plug for Housecall Pro there are new sponsors for the Successful Life Podcast. Thank you, guys. I appreciate you. And go check out bookboostai If you're an author and you've already written a book, but you've just never really pulled the trigger on spending 40 hours on sitting in front of a computer with a microphone and recording your book.

Speaker 1: 28:18

It's tedious, it's a lot of work and most people don't have the time to do it. I would be one of those people. I don't have an extra 40 hours to sit and read that book and this book Boostai has made this possible for me in record time. So you know I can't speak highly enough about the team over there. They've just been really receptive and they're dude. They're next level, next level technology. And, guys, ai is here. It's going places that you can't even imagine, and if you don't get on board, dude, it's up to you.

Speaker 1: 29:02

I talk about this a lot because I just see where this is going and you're going to want to utilize this every, every chance you get, because maybe not book boost if you're not an author or you don't have any interest in writing a book, but there are so many things that can be done by implementing AI into your business. Look, eliminate your after hourhour call center. We can do that, we've already done that and it's effective and it gives you the results that you're looking for for a fraction of the cost. I'm excited about where the trades are going to gain so much traction in using artificial intelligence. But you got to get on board. I don't want you to be scared of it, because there's nothing to be scared of. This is the future. It's just like when the internet started, you were probably a little skeptical about that. Ah, who needs a website? Now everybody has a website. In fact, that's your biggest. That's the biggest place where people go find you is on your website. The most important tools that are being used right now in the trades not the physical tools, but the tools behind the scenes, have AI in those tools and look, I want to help you.

Speaker 1: 30:28

This podcast is dedicated to the trades, because I love you guys, I love hardworking people that turn wrenches every day, because I don't want to go turn a wrench every day. It's just not what I was made to do. But I'm sure damn happy when I have somebody come out to my house to fix my unit or fix my hot water heater my water heater. I always say hot water heater. I don't know why I do that and I'm really grateful that somebody else has that skill set and I don't have to have it. I'm grateful that I don't have to deal with massive plumbing issues myself, because that doesn't seem fun to me. But for you guys that do that work, that do electrical work that could be shocked any second of any day, when you're messing with panels or wiring like it's a dangerous job, hvac is a dangerous jobvac is a dangerous job. Plumbing is a dangerous job.

Speaker 1: 31:30

So if you're listening to this and you are out in the field, dude, you're the hero. You're the guy that saves people from making massive mistakes which cost them a lot of money. So don't ever look at yourself as I'm just a plumber or I'm just an HVAC guy or I'm just an electrician, because that's a bullshit mindset. And you're not just those people. Look y'all, you're going to be the most important people on the earth here in about five or 10 years, because there's very few people coming into the trades and you guys are going to be the people that are going to be paying, getting paid even more money than you're getting paid now, because there's going to be scarcity. There's going to be, you know there's not going to be so many people out there that can change out a system that can run, you know, re-pipe your house that can run the electricity where it needs to go, and the value of that is getting ready to quadruple. So if you're younger, if you're not in the trade yet, look into it, because this is the new future being able to work with your hands, being able to change out systems but change out water heaters. Being able to change out systems but change out water heaters. Explain to customers why they're breathing in unhealthy air. Drinking unhealthy water is so important right now. It's never been more important than it is right this second.

Speaker 1: 33:02

And if you're interested in getting into the trades, reach out to me. I've got a network that's all over the country. I'd be happy to connect you with someone. I'd be happy to help you get into the trades. Look, we're training people here. We've got our technician academy. I don't know actually what we call it, but it's a well, apprenticeship is what it is, but it's it's dope dude, like we're developing the leaders for the next century and it's amazing because we show them how we do it here and we have processes and we run those processes because that's what works. I know I'm going off on a tangent, so I apologize for that, but I get very passionate about people in the trades and how other people look at people in the trades. People are not real unhappy with you when you show up to a house to change out their system when it's 95 degrees. You are the hero, you're the hero, so don't look at yourself any different. Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear two-wags. Appreciate you guys. We'll see you next week.