After the 2008 recession, unemployment peaked at 10 percent, double the December 2007 level of 5 percent. In the midst of the economic crisis, James Terry managed to start a plumbing company called GreenTeam.
Why and how did Terry decide to start his business at this point, and how has the culture he introduced enabled his success?
On tonight’s episode of Straight Outta Crumpton, presenters Greg Crumpton and Gabrielle Bar meet with GreenTeam Founder and CEO James Terry to discuss how he built his business and the culture he brings.
Some may believe that putting customers before the company and its employees is the right way to go. But your career or job is an element of your well-being, and it’s important for leaders to communicate that they are committed to supporting their employees. Terry knows this and says it’s important to do the right thing and stand up for your employees, show them you value them and give them what they need.
Terry explained, “We only work for clients who value us as much as we value them. Ultimately, it was all about scaling for us, but scaling organically and making sure we were dealing with clients who want to grow us. So it’s important to have clients who want to see you succeed, right?”
Crumpton, Bar and Terry also discussed…
- Terry’s take on culture and business and how these served as catalysts for GreenTeam
- Why and how caring for employees is so important to his company
- Some technology platforms GreenTeam uses to manage communication and work order flow
Terry provided context for why the way leaders treat their employees matters. “My decisions are based solely on ‘Will this help me sleep at night?’ There are statistics that say that 65 percent of the people out there treat or treat their boss or employer as their mentor, their psychologist, their shoulder to cry on or to lean on. And I think a lot of business owners don’t consider that because the culture that you set in your company will make people feel good or bad based on what you’ve created. And the decisions you make as a leader and as a business owner affect the personal lives of all of those people.”
James Terry is the founder and CEO of GreenTeam, which he founded in 2009. He is a Florida state certified plumbing contractor with over 13 years of commercial plumbing experience and 20 years of plumbing experience. Terry is President of the Plumbing and Mechanical Contractors Association of South Florida and Co-Cahir of BOMA Fort Lauderdale/Palm Beaches.
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