The Law Of Solid Ground

“Trust is the foundation of Leadership.”

- John Maxwell

In John Maxwell’s Book, ‘The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership’, which I highly recommend, he devotes an entire chapter to The Law of Solid Ground, detailing the importance of building trust, and how to go about doing just that. He goes so far as to say that ‘Trust… is the glue that holds an organization together.’ I could not agree more. We have all seen examples where trust has deteriorated with politicians, with businesses, and probably even in our personal relationships. Once you no longer trust someone, or something, you typically don’t want to be around them much, or invest in them. And the opposite is just as true. You want to invest your time and resources in those people or organizations that you believe in.

So, what does that mean for us as an association? What does this have to do with us?

I’d like to point out three areas where we as an Association do a great job of building trust:

1. Our impact on the citizens and businesses of the State of California — Collectively, as a statewide Association of pest control businesses, we have all covenanted together to uphold our Mission Statement. “Through environmental stewardship and legislative advocacy, we protect people, property, and our food supply.” You literally could not come up with a better catalyst to earn trust. When we bring our mission statement to fruition through our daily interactions with our customers, we build trust. People WANT us to protect them, their homes/businesses, and their health. We are privileged to work in an industry that is so well positioned with our customers that we are able to earn a living while we contribute to the well-being of our clients, earning their trust every day.
2. Our impact on the businesses in our Association — We are infinitely stronger together than any one of us could be alone. When you look at the advantages that this association offers all of its members, it is impressive. Our record with legislative and regulatory issues is laudable. Our ongoing education programs are extensive. Our regional and statewide opportunities to mingle and share ideas have proven extremely beneficial. Our Code of Ethics helps guide us to ensure all interactions with the public and each other are commendable. What PCOC does for the industry 
3. Our commitment to transparency — As you know, we have long held traditions of sharing the details of our association, including the financials, at each quarterly BOD meeting. We recently made the decision to go one step further and begin sharing the comparison of the previous year’s budget with the actual end results. This will prove very beneficial transparency-wise, and will also prove beneficial when it is time to put together the next year’s budget. As the current fiscal year’s treasurer, I have also begun working on a guide to the financials – something that will explain what goes into the line items on the financial statements. This is a large task, but I am excited to be working on it.

At the time of this writing, I am preparing for our September BOD. I am looking forward to seeing all of you there. Please make every effort to attend.

Sharing of Ideas – What are some of the things you and your District have been doing that are working well? Feel free to email them to me at tmickel@clarkpest.com and I’ll be glad to include them in the next Leadership Lens. One of our greatest strengths is the sharing of ideas, and I’d love to see us use that more often.

One of the greatest opportunities any leader has is to add value to the lives of others. Whether that is in your business, in your family, in your church, or right here in PCOC, we can find some of the best fulfillment of our lives when we are purposeful and intentional about finding ways to help others. As we invest in others and seek to positively change lives, the life that is typically changed the most is our own.

We have an amazing association, and it will only get stronger as we continue to do the right things right.

Here are 6 action items you can do to help:

1. Come to every BOD and get involved. (https://pcoc.org/events)
2. Attend your District meetings and get involved. (https://pcoc.org/district-information).
3. Invite and encourage other members to come to District Meetings and the BOD’s.
4. Share your ideas.
5. Reach out to non-members and enthusiastically share the benefits of PCOC with them and encourage them to join. Remember, a sale happens when there is a transfer of enthusiasm. That can only happen if you are first enthused. (https://pcoc.org/join)
6. Look in your local District and see if there is someone you can add value to. Maybe someone that is currently in a leadership role, or maybe someone that would like to be. What can you do to support them?

Working together, we can all help lead our association to an even better place.

If you have Leadership ideas you’d like to share, or a topic you’d like to see explored in a future PCOC Leadership Lens, I’d love to hear from you. 

All the best!
Travis Mickel
Regional Manager
Clark Pest Control
Treasurer-PCOC
831-262-8025
tmickel@clarkpest.com