This season marks 40 years of Grunder Landscaping Co.—a milestone I’m proud of, but it’s not one I’ve reached by doing things the way I always have. It’s about staying hungry for new growth, new perspectives, and new strategies.
This drive for constant improvement is why we built the ACE Peer Groups program, alongside our partners at McFarlin Stanford. Today in our groups we have over 200 companies in 19 groups representing over $1.5B of combined revenue. When I step back and look at our most successful ACE Peer Group members, I see these 3 common traits:
1. They have a clear vision for success. Successful companies are crystal clear about where they are going. They paint a vision for their team and they work together on achieving that vision. It is clear what success looks like and everyone on the team understands whether they are winning or losing in real-time.
2. They take action on their plan. Vision without execution = hallucination. It is not enough to set a vision, but you must execute the plan. Successful companies in our ACE Peer Group Program have become experts in taking action. They use their accountability group to stay on track and accomplish their goals.
3. They focus on empowering their team. As you have seen at our GROW! events, empowering teams to be successful is the crucial skill that great leaders have. Our recent GROW! hosts have all been peer group members: Ryan and Annette McCarthy at RJ, Jonathan and Josiah Peterson at Summit, and Taylor Milliken at Milosi. Great leaders trust their teams to own their goals and drive results.
The "ACE" in ACE Peer Groups stands for Accountability Creates Excellence. Having mentors in the industry held me accountable to the goals we set helped GLC to make changes even when they were uncomfortable and difficult. We knew if we didn't make the change, we were going to hear about it next time. We do that with our own peer groups: we push the owners to do what they said they would, and as a result, they make changes they knew were needed.
We add new peer group members just twice a year during our ACE Discovery Meetings, where owners have the chance to test drive our program to see if it's a fit for them. If you’re ready to experience this transformative power, join us for our next Discovery Meeting on November 12-15 in New Orleans, LA. As part of this event, you'll also get access to our ACE Summit, where you join our current and alumni peer group members for learning and networking.
Success is waiting - Will I see you there?
Marty Grunder
Founder & CEO
The Grow Group & Grunder Landscaping Co.