Chad Peterman is the president at Peterman Heating, Cooling and Plumbing. He shares how to build leaders by setting the foundation for culture and providing a roadmap for people who want to advance or take on a leadership role.

Be A Trailblazer

Chad has always been a visionary. He explains that you can’t be afraid of taking risks and using your imagination. You must be willing to learn new things and be open to new technology or ideas that may help your company along the way. Don’t be afraid to take someone’s idea and put your own spin on it!

“Rather than think up ten reasons why it can’t be done, say well they’re doing it, we just really have to dive in to figure out how they’re doing it or put our own spin on it to make it successful.” 

Attracting Great People To A Great Company

Finding applicants for your company can be tough, and ensuring you are attracting the right people for your team can be even tougher. Chad recognized that most people are not regularly introduced to the trades as a viable career option. So his company decided to create a place where they could attract people, introduce them to the trades, and provide them with opportunities for success.

“Maybe it’s not that there aren’t a lot of good people, maybe it is more so that they don’t want to work for my company. And so we kind of went and took that perspective and understood that we’ve got to make this a place that people want to come. And I think after kind of getting through those two phases, what we figured out is there may not be good people and we may have a great place to work so how can we build those people? Because there’s a lot of great people out there, they just may have never been introduced to the trades.”

Chad highlights that the quality of people entering his company now, is far higher than before they changed their mindset around who they take on. Introducing people from different walks of life into the trades, allows for the industry to grow as a whole. 

The Art Of The Trades

Chad wants future generations to see the potential in having a trade career. There is so much honor to be had in becoming someone who can fix something. Take pride in the industry you work in. 

“The one thing that has allowed us to grow is to understand that the quality and the integrity with which you treat your people, ultimately results in your growth. I always explain it to people. If I can take whoever in whatever position and they can be better next year than they were this year, then we’re going to grow. And then when you multiply that by 180 people you start to grow exponentially which is really what you’re looking for.”

Don’t get ahead of yourself and try to do too many things too quickly. If you provide the correct platform for your team, allowing the room for them to be successful, you will have a group of people who are intent on getting better. 

Build Leaders

“Reading has no value unless you share what you’re learning. You can read all the books in the world, but if you refuse to tell anybody or share with anybody what you’re learning… that’s not really beneficial to what you’re trying to do.”

Chad recommends giving your team the chance to learn from you but explains that not everyone will take the opportunity. Set the foundation for the culture and provide a roadmap for people who do want to advance or take on a leadership role and you will see organic and sustainable growth.