Why Rick Anderson over-commits to his company

Productivity was failing so badly at David Bowman’s company that he recalls the exact day he realized things weren’t going well.

“It was April 21, 2010 – my daughter’s birthday,” he says. “I went to check on a job and the guys left the property without finishing.”

After trying to get to the bottom of the situation, Bowman realized everyone was blaming someone else. “I told a supervisor to fire his whole crew,” he says.

He was down a huge portion of his workforce at Complete Lawn Grounds Maintenance in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, trying to build his new home and spend time with his daughter who was sick in the hospital. “I had a meeting the next day, and a supervisor refused to show up,” he says. “I was down two supervisors. It was kind of a kick me when I’m down thing.”

But just as things seemed the darkest, Bowman recalled an old acquaintance who could help.

Rick Anderson had worked for a company that was subcontracting for Bowman’s company, and the two had a good relationship. But Bowman’s company and the subcontracting company were at odds after a few rough months, and they ended up severing their business relationship.

“Rick is as loyal as the day is long,” Bowman says. “When we parted ways, I told him to keep me in mind.”

One day, as Bowman was doing some work on his house, a truck pulled up, and out walked Rick Anderson. “He told me they fired him,” Bowman says. “I couldn’t believe they’d let him go.”

While Bowman wasn’t quite ready to hire Anderson at the time, Anderson found a few other jobs to keep him busy. “I was working three part-time landscape jobs after that,” he says.

Now that Bowman had an opening, he knew exactly who he wanted to hire.

Read the full story from the June issue here.