In this episode, JD Ploetz, a long-time area manager at Tommy’s company, shares his journey as a seasoned leader and manager, growth, leadership, and overcoming challenges in the trades industry. JD reflects on his early days as a technician and the evolution of his role into management, eventually overseeing multiple locations. He opens up about the struggles of managing people, balancing business growth, and the importance of leadership in creating a successful team culture. JD also discusses his recent book, Nothing Changes When Nothing Changes, which highlights actionable advice on personal development, time management, and financial responsibility. He shares how these principles have transformed his own life and how he’s using them to mentor his team and help them navigate not only their careers but also their personal challenges. This episode is packed with insights on leadership, personal growth, and the power of building trust within a team. You can purchase JD’s new book here! https://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Changes-When-Universal-Meaningful/dp/1953487211 Don’t forget to register for Tommy’s event, Freedom 2025! This is the event where Tommy’s billion-dollar network will break down exactly how to accelerate your business and dominate your market in 2025. For more details visit freedomevent.com
Chapter 1: What is JD Ploetz's approach to personal development and change?
You have to educate yourself. That's part of what I write about is that it's okay as long as you understand nothing changes when nothing changes. You also have to understand that unless you change your thinking, you change the information you have between your ears, you've got to educate yourself about whatever it is that you're trying to change. Ignorance is bliss. You don't educate yourself.
You don't know. You don't ask for help. You don't make yourself accountable. The change will never happen. I guarantee that because I've been there and done that too. For four decades, I didn't try to
Welcome to the home service expert where each week Tommy chats with world-class entrepreneurs and experts in various fields like marketing, sales, hiring, and leadership to find out what's really behind their success in business. Now your host. the home service millionaire, Tommy Mello.
Before we get started, I wanted to share two important things with you. First, I want you to implement what you learned today. To do that, you'll have to take a lot of notes, but I also want you to fully concentrate on the interview. So I asked the team to take notes for you. Just text notes, N-O-T-E-S to 888-526-1299. That's 888-526-1299.
And you'll receive a link to download the notes from today's episode. Also, if you haven't got your copy of my newest book, Elevate, please go check it out. I'll share with you how I attracted and developed a winning team that helped me build a $200 million company in 22 states. Just go to elevateandwin.com forward slash podcast to get your copy. Now let's go back into the interview. All right.
Welcome back to the Home Service Sex for today. I got a good buddy of mine, JD Plotz. He's been with me at A1 since 2016. Yep. And started out as a technician. Used to work for the bad guys. Yeah. The green team. I'm not going to even name them, but a great competitor, actually. They weren't great in Phoenix. That's why the guy got kicked out of the franchise. But it's weird in a franchise.
There could be great ones and there could be really, really bad ones.
And it was very evident with that particular company who were the good ones and who were the bad ones.
Yeah. I mean, we've learned a lot from some of those guys. You know, they've got some good owners, but that's like any other franchise. So you just wrote a book. I wrote the foreword to it. Nothing changes when nothing changes. And this book came out last month. It's a bigger book. How long did it take you to put this together?
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Chapter 2: How did JD Ploetz transition from technician to manager?
You get rid of anybody not pulling their weight. Meaning, in effect, it should not be hard. I'm glad we work in right to will. Like, look, my job is never, I don't enjoy firing people. Unless you lie to each other still, then it's easy. But why, if we know this person's got to go, what advantage, like I'm telling you right now, get rid of them. I mean, just after this meeting.
You cut them... As long as you wholeheartedly in your heart believe they're not right, don't wait.
Okay. Well, no, and that's... And I know that you've actually said that at the manager meeting. You said something very similar to that. But... From the HR side, and I'll back HR up on this, we do have to have some sort of documentation, not the big long drawn out.
I don't think anybody should get let go that doesn't see it coming. So, yeah, there should be something. But I don't think you just wake up one day and be like, this person's got to go. I think it's probably been a couple of months. So hopefully you... If you're thinking correctly, I know you just don't wake up and be like, man, this guy's gone.
Yeah, well, Dan is correct. I mean, the last few people that I've lost or that we've parted ways, however you want to say it, in Tucson, everything was lined up to do what we were going to do, and all of a sudden you get a phone call. I'm just going to come give you my keys this morning, J.D. Okay? Okay? And that happened twice in the last six months.
You knew if you were in the bottom percent. Yeah. And you just said, hey, you pack up your stuff and say, look, this was fair. Like I had a chance to work harder to get above the bottom 20% because new people coming in is a good thing. Fresh blood. Anyways, I know we're going off here.
You said something pretty important, though, because when you on the Thursday meeting or Luke or somebody talks about that bottom 10 and 20%, There is a noticeable improvement in KPIs and metrics in technicians across the board, at least in my mind. It is. You can actually write the day. You can put an X on the day you guys talked about it. Give yourself a week.
And anybody that was, you know, trending down all of a sudden is trending up. And I don't think it's fear. Well, some of it might be fear, but I think some of it is that they know that you care enough to tell them that. Because a lot of companies won't say anything.
A lot of them don't even give the numbers.
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Chapter 3: What challenges and strategies exist in managing a team culture?
Yeah, but I didn't do it. It's done by AI, which... Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So there's a few quirks, but... But because the second half is all actionable items that you would want to refer back to a lot, what I'm going to do is, along with the Audible, is I'm going to have part two on a very slim pamphlet that you can get, and I'll make sure that everybody gets one.
If they get the Audible, once it's available, I have to make it.
Yeah.
But anyway, yes, to answer your question, yes, it is out. It is absolutely out.
AI is, we're training my, that's one other thing I've got to make a note of. We're training my AI skills. literally it's my face. It talks to you. It's loaded up all the podcasts and, um, I've got a way to train it actually to the next level. Um, which I think is important one day, you know, one day I'm going to die. Um, all of us are, I'm pretty sure of that. And, uh,
I think it's cool to have a legacy that if I load it up and I record enough stuff over the next 20 years, it kind of, it's not me, but it's a remnants of me. And it's kind of nice to leave that around for the next, you know, hopefully I have kids and, you know, there's something left for them to kind of, it's not the same at all.
But at least it's like, hey, dad, what would you do in this situation? I don't know. I don't know if it will help them or not. It's a weird thing. But I thought about when my dad passes or my mom passes. It's going to be the worst day of my life, but also to just, I still know they're gone.
Yeah, there's a lot of regrets I have when my parents passed away that I wasn't, I don't want to. I was in the throes of my addition, especially when my mother passed away. And I do have regrets that I didn't sit down with her and get more written down. I mean, what you're doing is great. This is my legacy, kind of from my great-grandkids and stuff. They want to know a little something about me.
They have that. They have the coloring books. It's great. But yeah, I'm big into AI. I don't use it for the super duper important stuff, but I'll tell you what, I would be lost without it now on a daily basis.
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