If I asked your team members to write down three adjectives that described your workplace, do you know—or could you accurately predict—what they’d say? Would their answers mirror the kind of company you want to run? Just as important, would they align with the kind of company that succeeds in the landscaping business?

I ask you this because, while we talk a lot about the importance of company culture to build and retain a winning team, many of us have a very limited understanding of how the people who work for us actually feel about the workplaces we’ve created for them to spend their days in. And then others of us have created obviously fun work environments in which there’s great affection among team members but also a very disappointing bottom line.

The balance is hard to get right.

One company that’s figured this all out in spades is Pacific Landscape Management, led by Bob Grover in Portland, Oregon.

I’ve had the tremendous pleasure of getting to know Bob and his company in the last year, and boy am I impressed.

His “Team Orange” is recognized as a winning culture and a distinctive brand—which is no small part of the reason they’ve become a $22M/year company.

Take a look at their Facebook page and you’ll see what I mean. Whether they’re hard at work on a job site, celebrating a great year, taking part in a companywide weight-loss challenge, or donating their landscape services to a local charity, the camaraderie and cohesion among his team is clear. And anytime Bob is interviewed about his success, he unfailingly gives credit to his hardworking crews.

At the same time, Bob runs the company with a laser focus on customer service and a lean approach to operational efficiency. And his team members have embraced those values too.

The result? Pacific Landscape is consistently ranked as one of the best companies in Oregon, and they’ve accomplished truly amazing growth in a relatively short time.

That’s why I’m so excited to be able to take you behind the scenes of this amazing company on the 2018 NALP Field Trip I’m leading this August with Frank Mariani. If I didn’t know this from personal experience I wouldn’t say it, but there really is no better—or faster—way to move your company forward than to tour a leading operation and see for yourself how they do what they do. It’s how I’ve moved Grunder Landscaping Co. forward, and how I continue to do so.