Growing Weeders Into Leaders: Leadership Lessons from the Ground Level

By Jeff McManus and Robert C. Khayat

One of America’s most accomplished landscaping professionals reveals his methods for cultivating greatness.
 
Nowadays, greatness tends to be measured by shortest or longest times, highest heights, medals won, honors given. But as Aristotle taught us, greatness is what we can do every day, without recognition or reward, for the satisfaction that comes from meeting the challenge, creating a team, and overcoming the odds.
 
Under Jeff McManus’s leadership as Director of Landscape Services, the Ole Miss campus has won professional awards—and been cited by Newsweek and Princeton Review as America’s “most beautiful campus.” In Growing Weeders into Leaders, he relates the principles behind his team’s success. It is an entertaining and thoughtful look into the hearts and the workday lives of ordinary people who tapped into their inner greatness in pursuit of a vision. Creating one of America’s most beautiful college campuses at the University of Mississippi did not happen overnight and, inside these pages, McManus describes the joys, the defeats, the brilliant problem-solving and the best laid plans that are proven worthless . . . until the bigger picture appears. This is the bigger picture as viewed from the ground level—taking you through the practical applications of empowering people to experience not only what it means to grow outstanding landscapes, but also to grow greatness in themselves and encourage it in others.
 
“A straightforward approach to problem-solving and methods to grow individuals into a team.” —Susanne Woodell, CGM Historic Gardens Manager, Biltmore

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Mar 7, 2017
• ISBN: 9781683503323

Jeff McManus

Jeff has been praised by The New York Times, Forbes, and the Huffington Post for his work in landscaping as well as his writing, Growing Weeders into Leaders, that reveals the secret sauce in his recipe for success: his team. The PGMS, Newsweek, the Princeton Review, and USA Today all designated his team's work worthy of national distinction naming their campus as the nation's most beautiful. As noted by Dan Cathy, Chairman of Board for Chick-fil-A, "Jeff reminds us that all leaders can be cultivated with the right pruning and nurturing."A Landscape Professional at the University of Mississippi by day, a member of the National Speakers Association by night, Jeff has worked with hundreds of leaders and organizations to find the hidden leader within themselves and others. His easy-to-follow leadership programs motivate participants to lead by example, problem solve and to engage in continuous learning and growing. Jeff walks the walk each day and talks the talk each night. To book Jeff as a speaker, or to learn more about how you can grow your team or find the hidden leader within, go to www.jeffmcmanus.com.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

Many how to guides have been written about leading a successful organization … most from a top-down perspective. The problem with this view from the top is that, day-to-day, everything below looks less important, less clear, and this includes the people, the problems, the opportunities, and the solutions.

This book gives you a glimpse into the lessons I learned from the ground—close up and personal. When I arrived at the University of Mississippi, affectionately known as Ole Miss, as director of Landscape Services in 2000, I came prepared to confront the truth of all those national rankings that listed the state of Mississippi at the bottom. What I discovered at Ole Miss was innate beauty and creativity just waiting for permission to grow.

The University of Mississippi was established in 1848 and now is among the nation’s elite research universities. The university is in the highly competitive Southeastern Conference. Collegiate athletics, especially football, is an exciting part of being at an SEC school. Competition drives the economy, community, and mindset of Ole Miss faculty, staff, and alumni.

Today, the university’s main campus encompasses more than 1,000 acres in the beautiful rolling hills of Oxford. Many visitors say they experience a majestic feeling as they walk through the Circle and Grove, and throughout the year, more than 19,000 students, 3,000 faculty and staff, and thousands of football fans enjoy the lushness that is Ole Miss.

When I came on board, it was a different story. Despite being influenced by Frederick Law Olmsted’s firm (Olmsted is considered to be the founder of American landscape architecture), Ole Miss’ grounds were not prepared as they could have been for recruiting America’s finest young minds at the start of the 21st