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Most landscape companies do not struggle because they lack ideas. They struggle because they lack leaders who can turn ideas into habits, habits into systems and systems into a stronger company.
That is what makes Desiree Bouchard and Ellen Moore of Great Lakes Landscape Design (Detroit) worth paying attention to.
Bouchard, the company’s integrator and general manager, did not step into leadership from the outside. She earned it from the inside. Over 13 years, she grew from office support into the person trusted to run the company day to day. When Great Lakes adopted an Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), Bouchard became the obvious choice for integrator because she understood the people, the pain points and the real rhythm of the business.
But even strong integrators need leverage.
That is where Moore comes in. With a background that includes nuclear power, an MBA and a deep process-improvement mindset, Moore now serves as director of continuous improvement. She calls herself “the integrator’s integrator,” which is exactly the kind of “dual leadership” structure many companies need.
Together, Bouchard and Moore are showing what modern leadership looks like in the green industry.
They are not relying on just industry knowledge. They are using real-world business tools to build meaningful KPIs, make daily huddles stick and standardize estimating.
Best practices
One of their best practices is walking the customer journey from first call to final install. That simple tabletop exercise exposes the hidden breakdowns that frustrate clients, employees and leaders. They then use tools like the “Five Whys” to get to the root of recurring problems.
Even after the solutions are figured out, only half the work is done. Change management is not an announcement. It is training, patience, follow-up, buy-in and persistence.
Bouchard and Moore are proving that when culture and systems grow together, a landscape company can scale with more clarity, less chaos and more confident leadership at every level.
Listen to them discuss this journey in more detail on Jeffrey Scott’s podcast here. Hear them both speak at the Summer Growth Summit, Aug. 18-20 in Detroit.
