Dangerous Trees and Talented Tree Removers

Jay Newman, PhD, Founding Partner, Culture By Choice

This morning, as I’m writing this article, I’m watching a crew of tree removers as they take down an old oak tree that is growing at a 75 degree angle next to my sea wall. We have to take it down because if it continues to lean more and more to the east, it will eventually go down and probably take part of the sea wall with it and just might fall on my house. I’ve put this off as long as I can and, as a result of my procrastination, I will be paying more than I would have a few years ago when we first noticed it was leaning.

There are a few lessons I can learn from this event. The first is procrastination rarely works out in our favor. But, more important, we can learn a great deal from how these men prepared for doing this job. To the south of the tree is the lake. To the north is my house. To the east sits an apple tree, a swing set, our boat lift, and my neighbor’s yard which is separated from my yard by a row of hedges. These tree removers have to take this tree down in sections and make sure nothing falls on any of those things I just mentioned. Before they started they took numerous safety precautions and then one of them started climbing the tree.

To do this job requires the use of a chainsaw. The climber must climb the tree with that chainsaw and then strap himself to the tree so he can cut limbs of the tree off as he climbs and make sure he doesn’t fall. Watching this gave me a serious case of acrophobia, fear of heights, and I was in my house looking out my window. I’m taking plenty of video so my grand children, who are all in school, can witness what went on. Next weekend when they all come to the lake house, we’ll replay the event so they too can appreciate the work these people do.

I’m writing this blog post because this process took amazing teamwork. Each person had a job that appeared to be separate from the other jobs but were actually quite dependent upon one another. The tree climber needed the person on the ground to move ropes and to hold those ropes in a specific way so that as limbs were cut, they would fall in a predesignated location. This person on the ground also cut the limbs up so that brush could go into the chipper and the larger pieces could be cut for firewood. There was a third person who operated a small tractor with a grabber attachment which was used to move the brush to the chipper and the larger pieces into piles that we can split at a later time. Each person depends on one another because the chipper needs to get the brush out of the way so that the person cutting the branches apart can get at the huge limbs. Those limbs have to be moved so the person in the tree can cut more of the tree down. And so it goes, piece by piece the tree comes down.

If any member of this team decided to do something different without consulting with the other team members, consequences could be dire. The person in the tree could get tangled in a drop line. The people on the ground could be hit by a falling limb. Huge chunks of tree could hit our house. Communication and cooperation are an absolute must. We can learn from every experience if we’ll just look for the connection and the process. It doesn’t matter what type of job you do, cooperation and communication help.

As I witnessed this event, I was struck by the Culture of the tree removal company. That culture was obvious and could be summed up in just 4 words: consideration, communication, conscientiousness, and commitment. The owner and his workers were considerate of each other and us, the customer. They told us what they were going to do and they did it. They communicated with each other frequently. When they finished with one phase of the work, they very carefully cleaned up and took care of our property. They went above and beyond our expectations. It was obvious by the way each worker did their job that they were committed to their company, to each other, and to achieving customer satisfaction. The owner of the company, George Wolfinger, made sure everyone was on the same page for every part of the operation. Nothing was left to chance.

My wife commented that George was really a nice guy. I agree but it’s more than being nice. George knows that if he is going to have a successful tree removal company, it’s not about how much money he can make removing a tree. It’s about how much value did you provide your customer. Customer’s will pay for valuable experiences and then praise the provider of that experience. If they don’t think they received a service that was of value, customers will let others know about it. George’s team was considerate, they communicated, they were conscientious, and fully committed to our satisfaction. In a place where many would not expect to find a Legacy Leader, I can confidently say, we found one.