The Leadership Ceiling

I have been in the restoration industry for 26 years now, and I have seen hundreds of new owners open their businesses and become very successful in this industry. There are growing pains, but there are growing pains in every industry. One of the biggest growing pains I have witnessed time and time again is what I have come to call the leadership ceiling.

When a new owner opens their business in the restoration industry, it usually starts out as a small operation. One truck, some equipment, the owner, and maybe a helper. You may be surprised as to the number of very successful restoration companies that have started exactly like this. If this small operation provides excellent service and a great customer experience, it will grow. This growth usually leads to bringing on another production crew and probably an office person.

At this point the owner is controlling everything. They have 4 or 5 people working for them and the owner is leading and managing all of it. As long as the service remains excellent and the customer are happy, this operation will continue to grow. Growth means more work, more work means they need another production crew, and at some point, another office person. Now the owner has an operation that has 3 production crews and 2 office people. The owner can still lead and manage everything, but I bet they are starting to get tired.

Any additional growth beyond this point is going to put the owner beyond their ability to control everything. They need help leading and managing this operation. This means that they need to bring on a manager, maybe even two managers, a production manager and an office manager. Welcome to the leadership ceiling.

A manager in this industry regardless of the department they manage, has to have strong leadership skills. This owner is no longer leading and managing employees, they are now managing managers, and leading leaders. If they themselves are not a strong leader, bringing managers into the operation could cause the company to stall out versus continue to grow.

My time in the U.S. Army and the restoration industry has taught me some important truths about leadership; great leaders surround themselves with great leaders, and great leaders will never work for a weak leader. If an owner wants to bring on great managers, managers that have excellent leadership skills, they themselves have to have excellent leadership skills.

The good news is that leadership is a skill and can be acquired and honed, just like any other skill. There is no such thing as a natural-born leader. All great leaders had to acquire and hone their skills. Owners and managers need to constantly increase their leadership knowledge and continuously practice their leadership skills.

There are an endless number of resources available. Leadership books, videos, and classes are all available. The trick is to take the journey, engage in the process of becoming a great leader, and you can break through the leadership ceiling.

The Restoration Industry provides leadership training. To learn more about our training opportunities, contact Dale Dohner, ddohner@restoration-institute.com

‍