Brett Lemcke

It’s only a couple of times a week, but Brett Lemcke, above right, will be at the office for morning dispatch to participate in morning huddles, gate checks and training. Sometimes the kids come, too, which Lemcke, vice president of the Rochester-based R.M. Landscape, really enjoys.

“They get to see our team members coming together and get to know many people within the company,” he says.

The kids like it, too, but for different reasons. “I think they like going mostly for the Pop-Tarts in the vending machine,” he says. Here’s Lemcke’s average day.

My morning is typically focused on our kids. We have three school-aged kids that need the usual amount of prompting to get ready for the day. I am very happy to have that time with them. My wife is a principal, so she is typically off early in the morning to welcome the students at her school.

I don’t typically eat breakfast. Morning hustle keeps me moving. I am typically at the office at 8:30-9 a.m. I’ll go earlier if I am going to a jobsite directly, which will typically happen a couple times a week. I am only in my office a couple days a week. I’m often out on jobs or meetings and working remotely – something I did before COVID, but now more often. If in the office, I start the day with my schedule review and coordinating the day or week.

I really lean on my Outlook calendar, and I schedule out as much as I can and schedule in free space for surprises. I use the same calendar for both personal and business time as both often mix with each other. Monday and Friday I will look especially hard at the next couple weeks and plan out further. I could start a week with a light schedule, but the week never ends up that way.

I have been skipping lunch these days, too. I used to be very focused on making lunch and bringing it to work. As my schedule has evolved to being on the run, I have not focused on lunch.

I realize that I am most productive in the morning so I like computer work in the a.m. and my afternoons will be more phone conversations. My role has changed as I have built a strong management team. I have gone from doing the work to training, coaching and supporting.

My busiest days for meetings are typically Monday and Wednesday. A couple reoccurring meetings with my management team, a sit-down with my father (Rick Lemcke, founder and president) to catch up on work and life and then a number of informal meetings based on the day’s activities. I enjoy meetings as they give me a chance to listen and learn. I like agendas and we often will call each other out if we are getting off track. I continue to work on creating better more effective meetings and will try different things to keep them engaging.

On the way home, I will often keep the radio off. So much of my days is full of conversations and noise that I find that quiet time helpful. I do like business type podcasts and on Fridays the music will start playing to get ready for the weekend.

Dinner time with the family is our no phone time. I often work in the evening catching up on what couldn’t be done in the day. I like that time after everyone is in bed to get a few tasks done.

I usually got to bed around midnight. With family needs (dinner, cleanup, bedtime) going later, I look for that evening time to unwind and work. I will pull up the laptop and watch a show. My wife and I will both work in the evening and will find time to catch up. The days go fast and hard and the evening is needed to relax and recharge. On especially tough days, I will go to bed early.