My Mother Always Said...

Some people are only able to refer to their mother in past tense, however I am blessed to still have my mother around, and to have her involved in both of our family businesses. Mom has always been a great teacher who taught life lessons by example. Lessons that have translated into our core principals at Big Adventure Inflatables and at Monte Vista. One of those principals that I believe every business leader should embrace is, "Never ask somebody to do something, that you are not willing to do yourself." The idea that the "boss", the "head honcho" the person who is in charge of others would do some of the menial jobs or tasks such as take out the trash, clean the bathrooms, etc., is basically unheard of in the business world, but at Big Adventure we are bringing that idea back around. At BAI and Monte Vista, we want to be sure that there is no task too small that any of us from the owners to the greenskeeper or inflatable operator wont do. When all of us work together as a team to get the jobs done, we will notice better efficiency, not to mention a great respect for the team as a whole. There are times that a team member may be fed up with a particular job or task and decide that they are above that, or that they "deserve" to shirk the job and get somebody else to do it. It's at that moment, the worker has forgotten that there are no levels of jobs for certain levels of employees and that if something needs to get done, ALL of us are qualified and expected to help get it done. Sure, there is a chain of command, and there is an organizational chart and levels of responsibilities and pay, but in our family businesses, you will often find us as owners working along side of our employees and hopefully our team is willing to do anything that is asked of them because, like my mother always said, we never ask a team member to do something, that we are not willing to do ourselves. Business take away: You aren't much of a boss, if you don't lead by example. Let your employees see your willingness to work beside them, and they will always be willing to work for you!