I recently had my friends Rob and Jessie Shrieve on The Grow Show. They own Coastal Shores Landscape in the South Carolina Lowcountry, and they're hosting our tour at GROW! 2027 in Savannah this February. We covered a lot, but one line from Rob has stuck with me: "We're not a culture of flattery."
Coastal Shores invests a lot in its people. Every Wednesday, the team meets for SALT training, where they talk about core values, nominate each other in front of the group for living them out, and even work on life skills for home.
The goal is to build enough trust that when a hard conversation comes, their people know it's coming from someone who cares about them.
Most of us are bad at criticism because we're bad at compliments. If your team only hears from you when something goes wrong, a correction becomes an attack.
I say this all the time: everyone has two bank accounts, the one at their bank and an emotional one. Every compliment and every show of respect is a deposit into your team's emotional account. That way, when you have to make a withdrawal like "You tore up two pieces of equipment this week, and you were late today. What's going on?" they're open to talking it through.
Rob and Jessie told me people rarely quit Coastal Shores, and that they can have tough conversations without anyone storming out. That's years of deposits paying off, and something I know we would all love to replicate.
At Coastal Shores in February, you'll see SALT in action, meet the team behind it, and get a close-up tour of Rob and Jessie's entire operation. It's not a perfect company (there's no such thing), but it's a successful one working through the same challenges you are. That's where the magic happens, and we can learn.
GROW! 2027 is February 17-19 in Savannah, GA. This is the finest educational experience in the Green Industry, so don't miss it! Sign up now, book your hotel, and get your flights so it's done. If you register before November 1, you'll save $200 per person with early bird pricing. I can't wait to see you and your team there!
Marty Grunder
Founder & CEO
The Grow Group & Grunder Landscaping Co.
P.S. Want to hear more from Rob and Jessie before GROW!? Listen to our full conversation on The Grow Show.