Profit By Design: 184: Becoming the Employer of Choice for A-players with Adam McKee

184: Becoming the Employer of Choice for A-players with Adam McKee

Mar 17, 2022

We are shining the Great Places to Work spotlight on Adam McKee and Contemporary Woods. Adam has been through our How to Hire the Best course, and he is being intentional in working to become the employer of choice to attract the A-players he wants. He is proof that simple changes can improve the culture of a business.

Adam McKee has been a craftsman his whole life, learning to build and wire homes from an early age through working with his dad and grandfather. He continued learning craftsmanship through fine woodworking in high school, residential carpentry in his associate’s degree, and construction management in his bachelor’s degree. After finishing his bachelor’s degree, an opportunity came to buy an existing business, Contemporary Woods, which specializes in custom furniture and woodworking. We fast-forward almost ten years later to find that Adam has learned a lot more than craftsmanship along the way, including how to be a better leader, entrepreneur, father, and learning to inspire others to celebrate craftsmanship. Adam has been married to his wife for 12 years, and they make their home in Lincoln, Nebraska, with their two young sons and two dogs.

Join us to hear how “today’s Adam” is a much different business owner than when he started his entrepreneurial journey!

Profit by Design is a Tap the Potential Production in collaboration with Small Business Consulting Group.

Show Highlights:

The entrepreneurial journey–how it started for Adam and wasn’t at all what he expected!
How Adam learned that being a critical micro-manager was NOT the best management style
The turning point for Adam in 2019: learning, growing, and making changes to improve the culture
How Adam simplified to three basic steps: sort, sweep and standardize
What Adam looks for in A-players for Contemporary Woods
Be a better leader! The best leaders take ownership of the problems and don’t blame their employees.
Simple changes that have improved the culture at Contemporary Woods, like one-on-one conversations, feedback, and asking the right questions
The value in reading books together as a team–and how Adam makes it work at Contemporary Woods
Team-building lessons from a people-pleaser
Problem-solving vs. finger-pointing—there is a BIG difference!
Adam’s example of dealing with a client over a sticky issue while protecting his team, empowering the client, and showing respect to everyone
Adam’s vision for Contemporary Woods in the celebration of craftsmanship