Undercover Boss gave us loads of feel-good TV moments—executives in disguise flipping burgers or mopping flooring, solely to disclose themselves on the finish with an enormous test and a hug. However because the CEO of BELFOR Property Restoration, that second wasn’t a gimmick for me. Lengthy earlier than the cameras (and lengthy after), I used to be proudly within the trenches hauling provides, navigating disasters and exhibiting up for my folks.
Whereas many CEOs delight themselves on “pondering large,” I constructed a multibillion-dollar firm by pondering shut. My management mannequin affords one thing deceptively easy: Don’t simply drop in—dig in. At a time when strategic detachment is widespread, I imagine that this method makes a compelling case for staying related.
Beneath, I’ll discover why, regardless of how packed the calendar, CEOs who interact with day-to-day operations are sometimes extra grounded, environment friendly and trusted.
The Management Hole: Technique vs. Actuality
When leaders drift too removed from the entrance traces, effectivity and morale undergo.
A PwC survey reveals a transparent shift in what efficient management now calls for: not solely strategic foresight, but additionally real-time connection to frontline realities. As CEOs face mounting stress to reinvent organizations and enhance productiveness, those that keep near operations are higher positioned to remain nimble, retain prime expertise and drive significant outcomes.
With out genuine connections to staff and clients, technique turns into theoretical. Operational blind spots develop. Morale dips as groups understand management as indifferent. And progress and not using a basis of care, concern and actual connections is finally unsustainable.
Boots on the Floor: Knowledge Earned, Not Taught
The highway to efficient management begins the place the work truly occurs. My journey didn’t start in a nook workplace. Once I joined BELFOR, I got down to be taught each facet of the enterprise—estimating property harm, hauling particles, coordinating groups throughout time zones, and so forth. That immersion formed a management fashion that’s meant to be grounded in care, concern and connections.
Even after BELFOR scaled globally, I made certain to not retreat to the boardroom. I continued exhibiting up at catastrophe zones, listening to crews and studying straight from the sphere. Showing on Undercover Boss wasn’t a detour; it was merely how I at all times led.
Take it from me: The second you cease studying out of your folks is the second you cease main them. Nice leaders get their palms soiled as a result of belief and respect begin there. When leaders interact straight with staff, it affirms their worth. But Gallup analysis reveals U.S. worker engagement has fallen to its lowest degree in a decade, with solely 31 % of staff engaged—a steep decline since 2020. The drop is sharpest amongst youthful staff, underscoring the urgency for leaders to construct stronger connections with the very individuals who signify the way forward for their organizations.
Operational inefficiencies hardly ever reveal themselves in spreadsheets. On the ground—speaking with technicians, listening to name middle reps, strolling job websites—is the place CEOs hear the actual reality. At BELFOR, these conversations have fueled steady enhancements in security protocols, shopper communication, coaching, and our dedication to Service Excellence. These adjustments have been sparked not by information dashboards alone, however by in-person dialogue and commentary.
Inspiring Engagement From the Prime Down
Care is contagious. When a CEO demonstrates presence, empathy and urgency, the impact ripples. Analysis reveals CEOs who keep carefully attuned to frontline work make sharper choices, encourage stronger dedication and adapt extra rapidly to disruption.
And there’s one other profit: time. When belief runs up and down the group, groups transfer ahead sooner. Alignment replaces hesitation, and the complete enterprise marches in the identical course with better velocity and effectivity.
Immersive management—spending time with staff, listening on to issues and observing operations firsthand—is not non-compulsory. It’s important for sustainable success.
Turning Perception Into Instantaneous Motion
Leaders who’re fluent of their operations can mobilize sooner in a disaster.
Throughout back-to-back Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024, and once more within the tragic 2025 California wildfires, BELFOR deployed 1000’s of personnel at a second’s discover. I’d prefer to assume that my skill to chop pink tape and act decisively stemmed not from my title, however from hard-earned operational fluency.
Presence doesn’t imply micromanagement. It means intentional visibility. Listed here are easy methods CEOs can interact meaningfully with out overstepping:
1. Stroll the ground frequently, not simply throughout PR-friendly visits. You may’t lead from behind a desk. The actual heartbeat of our firm is out within the subject and on the flooring of our places of work. Once I stroll these areas, I’m reminded that our success is constructed by one job, one particular person, one handshake at a time. I don’t present as much as test a field…I present up as a result of I be taught one thing each single time I take heed to our folks.
2. Attend onboarding or coaching classes to listen to straight from new hires and frontline employees. Our latest staff members typically see issues with the clearest eyes! Sitting in onboarding or coaching isn’t simply symbolic. It’s an opportunity to listen to what’s working, what’s complicated and what evokes them. It jogs my memory how vital it’s that we by no means lose that sense of goal and pleasure that brings folks to the corporate within the first place.
3. Create casual suggestions loops: unfiltered surveys, nameless Q&A or informal one-on-ones. Folks must know they’ll converse freely. Not simply when issues are going effectively, however particularly once they’re not. I’ve realized that probably the most invaluable suggestions typically is available in probably the most surprising moments—an off-the-cuff chat within the hallway, a observe from somebody on the job web site or a query that’s robust to listen to however mandatory. Sincere voices hold us sincere leaders.
4. Be genuinely curious and supportive. Ask about staff’ lives in addition to their work. Attempt to present up at weddings, funerals, candy 16s, graduations and non-company occasions. BELFOR is an organization constructed on relationships, not transactions. When somebody invitations me to a household occasion, it’s not a formality; it’s an honor. Life doesn’t cease when the workday ends, and neither ought to our take care of each other. Exhibiting up for folks of their private moments, good and dangerous, is what makes us greater than an organization. It makes us a household.
5. Use actual frontline tales in government conferences to tie technique again to folks and outcomes. Behind each resolution we make on the management desk is an actual particular person, an actual story, an actual second that issues. I make it some extent to carry these tales into the room. From the technician who stayed in a single day to get a college reopened, to the staff who rebuilt a hospital wing after a flood. Numbers inform a part of the story, however folks carry it to life.
The place Tradition Fuels Resilience
In high-stakes industries like catastrophe restoration, success isn’t simply technical. It’s cultural. Our BELFOR crews enter properties and companies throughout folks’s worst moments. Velocity issues, sure, however so do empathy, unity and belief.
When a flash flood swept by way of Bannack State Park, BELFOR arrived inside 48 hours to start restoration. The staff introduced in incident administration personnel, specialised tools and restoration crews to guard and restore greater than 80 historic buildings. That degree of response was doable due to a deeply rooted tradition of belief, communication and preparedness. Leaders who keep near their groups foster the type of relationships that flip coordination into motion when it issues most.
Nice management doesn’t occur from a distance. It occurs in proximity to the work, to the folks and to the on a regular basis particulars that form an organization.
As I prefer to say typically: “I’d slightly have a pal earlier than I want a pal.” Relationships constructed proactively within the small, on a regular basis moments are the inspiration that enables leaders and groups to climate large challenges collectively.
If you wish to lead a enterprise that thrives, shut the hole. Get near your folks. Study out of your groups. Construct your tradition within the trenches. That’s the place resilience and lasting success start.
