Takeaways

  • No matter the industry, a business leader needs to be a great leader of people first. 

  • Help your team understand themselves and others better through personality assessments such as DISC and Enneagram, so they can communicate well and serve customers with excellence. 

  • Care about what matters to your team both personally and professionally, so they will be excited and bring the best to their jobs every day. 

Imagine my surprise when I hopped into the Morning Show at EQUIP Expo last month, just to be curious, and the talk turned from landscaping tips to DISC assessments and Enneagram profiles. 

Well, this is my heart language 101 and I was all ears.  

Within just a few minutes, podcaster and entrepreneur Eric Triplett grabbed my attention and I was sitting a little higher in that end chair in the far right corner of the room. 

“You almost can’t be my friend unless I know your DISC profile,” he said with a half-joking, but mostly serious laugh. “I won’t hire you either unless I know where you are.” 

I think I stopped breathing for a second. I quickly wrote that quote down word for word. It was a feeling I’ve had for a long time and built into my teams through the years: knowing something about someone and how they operate makes a world of difference. 

Then he referred to his friend, whom Triplett says is an Enneagram 2 and “leader of leaders”, someone he trusts completely to grow other people. He shared that he himself is an Enneagram 8, a challenger and fast decision maker. 

I remember wondering what everyone else in the room was thinking about this conversation. To be honest, at this point, I was kind of hopping up in my seat, hoping that they’d see this Midwest middle-aged woman in red glasses in the back (also an Enneagram 8/2 Arrow) and invite her to participate in the conversation. 

My brain kept thinking: YES and YES!

TVSDptIc.jpegA full house at the Thursday Morning Show at EQUIP Expo in Louisville, Ky. 
By now you may be wondering how this applies to you, the Rural Lifestyle Dealer audience? 

Connection. Understanding. Growing good, high-EQ teams that see and collaborate with your customers. That should be every business leader’s goal for a myriad of reasons I won’t go into here today, but for one: The guys up on stage agreed that building a five-star experience for their employees creates a five-star experience for their clients. Their words, not mine. 

Hearing contractors talk about personality tests like it was an everyday language was incredible, and I could feel their positive energy and excitement for what these skills can do. They have lived it and seen the power of helping their teams understand themselves and others better. 

I grew up in the country, a farm girl through and through. We weren’t taught to manage emotions or how to communicate well. These things: DISC, Enneagram, Strengths, etc., were philosophies I’ve learned along the way in business circles. Definitely not in the barn or machine sheds. 

What’s most exciting to me about this experience, however, is that the audience was ready. They were engaged and had questions. They wanted to know more, and how to access these tests and use them best. 

Triplett had them inspired, and well, as an 8, that’s a superpower I appreciate well.

He then said something that hit close to home as an employee and someone on their first trip with a new company. 

“I understand each of my employees personal and professional goals and dreams,” Triplett said. “When you connect the ‘why’ of your employees to the goals of you and your team, it’s easy to get up and be excited.” 

And in my notebook, I wrote “WOW!” 

What would business look like if we slowed down, learned what matters to those we work with everyday and then went out and took action together? I’ve experienced this at some level, and I can attest that it’s life changing. 

I have much more to share on the EQUIP Expo of the many wonderful people, experiences and product innovations that Publisher Michael Ellis and I saw together. Keep an eye out as we start releasing the many videos we shot during our week in Louisville. 

I loved seeing the industry talk about new things, desire growth and deeply want to be great stewards of those they are called to serve. I saw that in this session and throughout the show floor and even in new friends made in the media room.

As always, we want to best serve you, too. Let us know what you’re thinking, where the needs are for rural lifestyle dealers and share your wins with us. We appreciate your patronage and continued support of our work here at Lessiter Media. 

Until next time.