There's Strength in Neighbors

I just had a great conversation with an established founder, and one of the items that stuck out to me was a story about his daughter. In sum, she was learning what not to do via the example of her supervisor's current behaviors. Most of us can say we have learned quite a bit from .

But that's not what this newsletter is about.

Some of you know that I own a host management company where we help local investment property owners with their vacation rentals. We also consult with property owners nationally and internationally on revenue projections, hosting strategies, and the like. Sometimes we help them write business plans to get funding, see if it makes sense for them, and help them find financing to acquire or refinance a vacation rental. Owning a vacation (short-term) rental is a completely different animal from owning a property where you have a tenant with a lease.

I have found that the smartest hosts have one thing in common: they have great neighbors.

That means they have spent time walking their neighborhood, and just being friendly. But how many of us actually take the time to do this as part of our every day work? I know I've fallen short.

The hosts we work with typically have a neighbor that keeps an eye on the place, rolls the empty garbage totes back, or are trusted to check on something inside when needed. One host neighbor gave me a great tip on where exactly to strategically place the garbage and recycling totes at one place. One host we work with has a neighbor we pay to care for the lawn, do the snow removal, and clean the house in between guests! It's great for us as host services providers because we can count on them.

I grew up with neighbors that snowblowed our driveway, gave us raspberries from their garden (or maybe we "stole" them while they chose not to catch us, staying behind their big tree to smile instead), and "lent" us a cup of sugar...refusing to have us replace it later.

If you didn't have an experience like this, you may have seen TV shows where places like Mayberry, Sesame Street, Latrobe, Manhattan, 227 Lexington Place, and suburban Detroit showed the ups (yes, and the downs) of having great neighbors. You may have had someone in your neighborhood you looked up to.

The point? Take the time to not just be a good neighbor today at home and at work, where you also have neighbors, but take the time to also thank your neighbors. The, use this as your object lesson for your own founder and executive leadership development during the holidays and into the new year by being that good neighbor to your direct reports.

I'll go first. My first neighborly thank you goes to the best neighbors any kid could have ever asked for: Paul and Dorris Waack.

ryan

Ryan Kauth

Ryan Kauth is a business coach for established founders and family business owners and fractional executive. He'll give any founder or family business leader a complimentary introductory call.

Starting next week, he's planning a Small Business Saturday offer for 2024, good through the end of November 2023, that one content marketer called "amazing." More next week as this 2x per week newsletter will look a bit different -- more like a daily -- leading up to Small Business Saturday on November 25th. Shop small!