The Fast Train is Moving From the Station

I want to ensure that you understand that once you have experienced taking on the responsibility and control of an enterprise, you will be on the Express Train! Few other experiences will allow you to learn this much about running a business and just how much work is involved. An entire world of opportunities opens up! The challenge is that all of those other jobs that seemed reasonable to work at suddenly seem not-so-challenging; perhaps even unrewarding or boring. This is certainly the case for many of our operators. Many student jobs are created to provide minimal responsibility and the expectations are rather low. A VP of stores for Wal-Mart, Loblaws or Rona will not make a proposal to have a student take over their local operations for the summer! It is neither practical nor realistic. It is feasible for us to hand over the operations of the business to a student because, unlike Wal-Mart, we do not operate 365 days of the year and we are not an ongoing enterprise.

             

Our business is unique in that we spend the fall of every year recruiting the best candidates from across Eastern Canada to put into our program, typically selecting one out of every twenty five interested candidates.  In January, we start intensive training of these local operators that involve up to 70 hours of training over eight months.  These Operators set up local businesses in specific markets, (Peterborough North, Pointe Claire, Cole Harbour or London Southwest).  These Operators start recruiting employees, marketing and selling around their winter and spring school work load.  Once they are approaching the end of their school exams they start learning to paint and then training their staff.  They start their crews slowly and methodically to ensure great quality work so that their teams start with the best habits.  During the summer they are running their own business.  They are hiring and paying their own staff, marketing and selling their own clients and having their staff produce that work.  Finally, they earn a net profit after all of their expenses are paid.  They earn whatever the business profits, not a wage like their peers.

If Wal-Mart won’t hand over its stores to university students, why does Student Works Painting?  The uniqueness of our business is what makes handing over all of this responsibility to our young leaders in our mutual best interest.  As a result of our training and support systems, we are able to run successful operations across Eastern Canada that we would not be able to do in a more traditional model.   Our student business leaders are able to take their raw skills and develop them in a model that is extraordinarily rare. We would not be in these markets without students, so it is a win-win situation.

It is a competitive world out there and there are many people looking for the same opportunities that you are.  I always like to use the example of a hockey player playing AAA hockey at an elite level in Canada. As many Canadians know, there is a “feeder system” to make it to the NHL.  Someone must be at a certain level at 16, 18 and so on to have a very real chance of making it to the professional level. Have you ever heard of an athlete playing at the AAA level, going back to house league and then making it to the NHL? Me neither! The business world works in a similar way. The best jobs are attained from a “feeder system” as well and SWP is the AAA summer job for students. There is simply no point in playing house league if you want to make it to the big time! Take your professional goals seriously and get on the express train with Student Works Painting!

How does the 'Tyranny of Or' affect your Decisions?

I use the concept of the “Tyranny of Or” to engage with my team and assist them is seeing that their thoughts can be limiting. I think that it is common for people to believe that there are only two options. For instance, people commonly think “I can do well in school or I can participate in extracurricular activities”; “I can work hard at my job or I can be a successful parent.” These are fictional stories and fall under the “tyranny of or”. It is far more true to believe that we can do well in school and participate in extracurriculars. There is no reason that we cannot play a successful role in our society, have a family, pursue our hobbies, (or whatever) and do all of these things with passion. By living in the “tyranny of or” we cut off what is possible and limit our ability to enjoy the fullness of our lives.  

      We recently returned from a trip to Mexico with our top performing Operators.  I found myself surprised at how many of them were on the Dean's List in their programs. Typically ten per cent of students are on the Dean’s List in undergraduate programs in Canada. When I asked our team, I was amazed to find that 43% of our Operators were on the Dean’s List at their institution! 

      Many times when students are considering our program, they hesitate because of their concerns about school. ("THE TYRANNY OF OR!") The thought is that they can do well in school or do something else. Our  performers are some of the best in the business and typically spent more than fifteen hours per week into their business around challenging academic programs dramatically outperformed the average student.  Their focus, hard work and time management skills that are honed and taught at Student Works are the key to their success.  Don't let this weak mindset keep you from achieving your goals.

Relationships Are Everything

Relationships are Everything

Great leaders are clear about their values and our number one value is "Relationships are Everything".   Relationships are the foundation of our lives, our families, our businesses and our nations.  Ask a dying person, someone who is grieving a loss of a loved one or the birth of a new child what is most important?  We know that relationships are the glue, the passion, the love in life.   We all have limited assets; in a business anyone can enter and compete with us.  Relationships are the cement of a business, a family and a community.  In fact, relationships are in my opinion, the most important asset that we have!  Whether the relationship we have with our creator, our parents, friends or other loved ones – relationships are everything!

Time and commitment are the most important keys to building great relationships.  First, taking the time to care to share your lives with your family, friends and associates - your challenges and victories - both personal and private are critical to developing a strong relationship with most personality types.  Second, keeping your commitments is a critical component of cementing a relationship.  Making sure that we honor our relationships is a critical long term best practice.

One key strategy that we use to ensure that we follow this commandment is the use of weekly scheduled meetings and regular follow up with our teams.  Leadership and relationships are connected directly – we cannot lead powerfully without great relationships.  Positive change best happens in a relationship sharing feedback and results and striving for positive progress.  We establish this habit with  Student Works and we hope our leaders maintain this habit for their careers.

I also believe that a key part of developing relationships is sharing your life with people.  Being authentic with your team, sharing your wins, your struggles and your life with people draw them closer.  When people are closer we can more powerfully impact them.  We must also spend time with people, break bread together, socialize, roll up our sleeves and work with them to develop our relationships.

               We have just returned from our top performers trip in the Mayan Riviera, Mexico.  It is truly inspiring to see the wonderful relationships created and developed during our stay.  We spent time at meals, at fun activities, golf, visiting ruins, fun activities, shopping and night clubs.  The vast majority of our trip members are returning and I know an enormous reason for our Operators returning is because of the great relationship that they have established.  It feels awesome to have great people to work hard with, share best practices and encourage each other to strive for greatness!