As the major sponsor of National Pest Management Association Academy, Corteva Agriscience^™ joined 150+ pest management professionals from across the country at the three-day conference in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Academy creates, develops and inspires leaders, regardless of company role: pest management owners, managers, technicians, industry territory managers and software providers — it doesn’t matter.

Ben Snyder, American Pest

Ben Snyder, Red Team captain, Certified Sentricon Specialist^™ and sales manager for American Pest in Maryland, says Academy is one of the top things he looks forward to attending each year as a pest management professional (PMP). This was his fifth year at Academy, and networking with other PMPs continues to be the most important takeaway.

For him, Academy is a valuable opportunity to:

• Meet others in the industry who are not direct competitors
• Gather ideas and thoughts from peers that he can bring back to his business
• Find ways to engage and motivate his team
• Embrace the aspect of teamwork and team building that help him in his role
• Be inspired by keynote speakers who give him a new outlook on work

Jen Howard, Corteva Agriscience

Fellow Red Team captain and territory manager for the Sentricon^® system in Oklahoma, New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle, Jen Howard, takes it from here and shares her key takeaways from this year’s Academy.

Imagine for a moment, if we, our employees and peers sprang into action each and every day with great enthusiasm and heart to work hard — with thoughtful strategy — to win gold. And that gold is winning over our customers. If this is your business already, well done! Maybe it’s almost your business, but a few things need tweaking. Perhaps this scenario isn’t your business, but you suspect it’s your competitors’. Or, this idea is a dream, and it’s not possible for your business.

I’m confident to report it IS possible. Because, for the second year, I am amazed at what a group of people — mostly unknown to each other — can accomplish in three days, from the first day of hitting the ground running (almost literally), to picking up your designated team color shirt and immediately going into action strategizing ways to help your team win the gold medal.

Academy is a place where the best leaders are encouraged to do three things: Innovate. Collaborate. Motivate. Keynote speakers addressed these areas with actionable insights for our businesses.

1. Innovate. Make changes in something established, especially by introducing new methods, ideas or products.

Marcus Sheridan has been dubbed a “Web Marketing Guru” by The New York Times. He explained by 2019, 80 percent of all content consumed online will be video. Currently, it’s 5 percent. Whether we like it or not, we’re all media companies. Social video generates 1,200 percent more shares than text and images combined!

TRY IT: Marcus asked, “Why do we keep answering the same questions?” Brainstorm the top 10 questions you get on a sales call and choose seven. Create a video for each question, and create one intentional video for your website called, “The 80% Video.”

2. Collaborate. Work jointly on an activity, especially to produce or create something.

After a 30-year career in franchising, Kevin Brown retired from corporate America to pursue his passion for bringing The HERO Effect™ message to people and organizations. Heroes give an exceptional experience every time. It’s fascinating how people show up for their life. How do they represent their brand? Heroes take 100 percent responsibility. What can I do with what I have to create the best possible outcome?

TRY IT: When you’re brilliant in serving the internal customer, then the external customer follows. Give the customer what they want whether they order it or not.

3. Motivate. Stimulate (someone’s) interest in or enthusiasm for doing something.

Kristen Hadeed imagines a world where all organizations have cultures that empower people to keep climbing toward the best version of themselves every day. Kristen explained pep talks and “the sandwich method” (start with something positive, get to the problem, and end with something positive) is not worthy. Instead, try FBI: Inspire to keep doing great or change the behavior through Feeling, Behavior and Impact. How would you feel when the person did the behavior, and how was the impact on the team, or bottom line, or…?

TRY IT: “I feel disappointed that you were thirty minutes late to the meeting yesterday afternoon, and now I’m unsure if I can rely on you in the future.” When you give FBI, ask for FBI about yourself. Be intentional with feedback.