Take a load off

Dave Zerfoss, former president of Husqvarna Professional Products, wants to remove stress from your life. Zerfoss, fresh off offering the keynote speech at PLANET's Green Industry Conference, operates the Zerfoss Group, which consults with think tanks, major corporations and entrepreneurs. He chairs a chief executive group in Charlotte for Vistage International, a CEO organization made up of more than 14,000 CEO members.

He also serves as an executive in residence at Queens University McColl School of Business in Charlotte, sharing transformational thinking and leadership insights with aspiring MBA students. He recently gave some insight on how business leaders can limit their stress amount.
 

Your latest book focuses on how to eliminate stress in our lives. How can leaders do this?

Many of us hurry through life going from one place to the next, focused on conquering the next mountain, making the next deal, running the next errand and believing we will never have enough time to do all the things we need to get done. Yet, there is all the time in the world if we just realize that we are the creators of this life we choose to live. Life is a series of choices and being free from stress is one of those choices.

Whether your business life is overly complicated or your personal life (or both), you have chosen this current system of chaos. The world is a tantalizing swirl of getting the next "fix," tempting us to fit more and more things, people and processes into our lives, personally and professionally. And because we are so busy being busy, it's easy to be lured into the fray with our lengthy to-do lists. Yet, the greatest achievements have often come from the simplest of ideas and in the simplest forms.

To experience a simplified life, we first have to learn to slow down long enough to see through all the clutter.

We need to realize that we are powerful magnets that attracted this life to ourselves – no matter what – good or bad.

What has been your personal struggle with stress to position you as an expert on the topic?

I grew up farming and learned at a young age that getting anywhere or anything in life was all about hard work – real hard work. However, farming was not my choice of the means to acquire and achieve all that I desired. With a strong work ethic as my base, I studied hard at a one room school house in rural Pennsylvania, and eventually went on to college. I soon got married, had kids and was off on my way in a business career. And I never, ever stopped. I was a constant ball of energy and drive.

There was no mountain too high or territory too big to overcome. I was always ready for someone to "give me the ball." I was busy being busy and I thrived on it. In fact, the more I achieved, the more I wanted to achieve and acquire.

I had been burning the candle at both ends for too many years to count. I wasn't just a workaholic. I was a stressaholic. And I was so engulfed in this lifestyle that I thought others who were not as crazed with constant travel, responsibilities and increasing pressure, perhaps lacked a "chip" for this drive and desire I so loved.

I couldn't see what was missing in my life and business because it was so filled up with more and more things to do and things to have.
 

You believe it is important for business leaders to build – and sustain – the positive attributes of their company culture in order to succeed. How can business leaders accomplish this?

As the leader of your organization, it's a process that requires a conscious commitment of your time and energy. There are four steps to keep in mind: illuminate, inform, involve and invest.

The first step, illuminate, is to determine goals and objectives and set the strategic direction for the business providing a strategic vision for your employees to follow and then illuminate the way.

To inform is to provide effective communication with your associates and employees. An employee without information can't take responsibility; however, an employee who has been given information can't help but take responsibility. Third, involve your employees in the process by soliciting their feedback. Take suggestions from associates, as well as customers for improving business procedures.

Finally, invest. You want your associates to feel like they have a real stake in the business.

The time and effort they invest in their jobs will result in a satisfied and productive workplace – that makes for a true win-win situation.
 

What can landscaping business owners do to remain viable in this economy?

The landscaping industry has become much more competitive. Too many green industry leaders are still going back to what was successful for them in the past. They are resorting to going back to what they know.

They are trying to do more of what they did in the past, but much faster and cheaper. They may be hard working, but they are not always busy doing the right things.

Today more than ever, there is an increasing need to identify a company's purpose and vision. Companies should be asking: What unique value do we bring to customers? Why are we different? What customers match our values? How can we bring our vision for the future into the present?

This is transformational thinking. It's looking at purpose, value and direction for the future and taking aligned action in the present.
 

The landscaping industry is comprised of a high percentage of small businesses. Can you identify key factors in how to operate a successful small business?

It's really quite simple. It's not a matter of how many zeroes are behind the numbers. Whether you are an eight-figure or seven-figure company or less, the fundamentals are still the same. I tell people running small businesses that they should not call themselves a "small" business, but rather a "successful" business. Success is not always about big numbers.

Are you excited about what you do and do you do it well? That is the real measure of success. It's perfectly OK to be a company that deals with fewer customers, yet offers the best quality. If you are running a sustainable company that features a worthy ideal, then you are absolutely being successful.

Our job as leaders is to inspire a vision. If we are going to be the best company, the measure should not only be how much revenue we achieve, but how high is the quality of what we do and the service offering we bring to others.

The author is a freelance writer based in Akron, Ohio.