March 15, 2016
PROSPERITY PARTNERS

We are a landscape nation

By Jacki Hart CLP
Prosperity Partners program manager

Last month, Landscape Ontario members had yet another outstanding professional signature event from which they could draw huge mutual benefit — The LMN Leaders Summit, held in Collingwood, Ont. was attended by over 100 industry business owners and managers. The only word I can use to describe the outstanding professional signature event is, “Wow!”r

The first of its kind in Ontario, the event featured a two-day schedule packed with an overwhelmingly rich content of take-away leadership and business management tools. Each day included networking breakfasts and lunches with keynote presentations, plus three 90-minute workshops where participants rotated in their assigned break-out groups. After hours events included beer pairing and whiskey tasting from local producers, along with options for many restaurants, shopping and even skiing on-site.r

First and foremost, I want to sincerely thank and congratulate Mark Bradley for his inspiration, leadership and passion to “keep raising the bar” for our industry. Mark’s team at LMN (www.golmn.com) worked tirelessly and quickly to put on this event in collaboration with Landscape Ontario. LO executive director Tony DiGiovanni and events manager Kristen McIntyre also played important roles in the creation of this event and its success. As an industry consultant, I felt very privileged to be a part of the program and to have the opportunity to present the “Presidents Review and Leadership Evaluation” workshop alongside Tim Kearney. Sessions hosted by Bradley, Mike Lysecki (LMN) and Jeffrey Scott were all fast-paced, engaging and information packed. r

At the Leaders Summit, I had the opportunity to network with many business owners from far and wide, including: Florida, Vermont, New York, British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec. It was truly a great feeling to watch business peers from across the continent working together, asking similar questions and relating to each others business stories. For me, this experience once again hit home that you’re never alone in this industry. r

Many summit participants commented on the vast range and quantity of resources they were receiving from the workshops. An entire library of downloadable templates to take back to work and implement with speed! While speaking with an American businessman, he compared his state association to LO: “Y’all aren’t an Association, y’all are a Landscape Nation.” What a compliment to us all.r

I was also very happy to see and chat with many of our Peer to Peer Network members at the summit — a great sign for how engaged the Peer Network members are in their continued prosperity journey towards professional development. It has become very clear to me that business owners who choose to consistently invest in their own professional and leadership development, either with consultants or courses, are the ones whose businesses are truly thriving and experiencing profitable growth.r

Our Peer to Peer Network continues to present sold out workshops in this year’s program. To join the Peer to Peer Network visit horttrades.com/p2p-network or to register for our next session “Delegate It!” on March 30 in Ajax.r