Over the past several decades I’ve had the privilege to work with some of the best HVAC companies across North America. Many progressed to become among the best high-performance professionals in our industry.

As I reflect on these incredible companies and the people that lead them, I see some common threads. You could say there are certain traits and behaviors these leaders and their organizations have in common.

Performance Traits

Here are top 10 traits I see in High-Performance HVAC™ leaders:

Are You on the PATH to High-Performance HVAC?
  1. See the Mission. Once these leaders discover what the high-performance approach can do for their customers, their employees, and their company, their vision sharpens and grows.
  2. Aspire to be Craftsmen. They focus on delivered performance and all the steps it takes to get there. From test-in to test-out, and everything in between, they see craftsmanship as the prized deliverable.
  3. Do the Right Thing – Always. They are intensely focused on doing what’s right for the customer. They don’t just add “stuff” to make more money. They do charge a fair, but profitable price for the value they deliver. Their customers are happy, and refer them to friends and neighbors.
  4. Curiosity – Always Seek To Understand. As they journey down this path, they have a natural curiosity to learn more each day. Once they begin to perform Air Upgrades, they often quickly move up to system performance and delivered Btus to truly provide optimum comfort.
  5. Commitment – Long-Term Thinkers. Successful high-performance contractors play the long game. They invest in the tools and training on an ongoing basis. They understand it’s a marathon, not a sprint, and invest in people and infrastructure to sustain it in the long term.
  6. Accountability – Goal Oriented. They set Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) to keep both themselves and their teams accountable. To learn more about OKRs be sure to read Measure What Matters, by John Doerr. As they progress their goals stretch bigger and bigger.
  7. Be Driven to Prove Performance. These companies aren’t just satisfied with diagnosing and fixing substandard HVAC systems and homes. They prove value with measurement and data, and share it with their customers.
  8. Become Trailblazers. Many leaders have confessed to me that at the start they were more of a conformist, but once they became disciples of High-Performance HVAC, they started to see themselves as trailblazers – boldly forging ahead and leaving their competition in the dust.
  9. They Love the Journey as Much as the Destination. As these leaders travel the path to High-Performance HVAC they truly begin to enjoy the transformation that comes over their companies. Team members are happier and understand their higher purpose over swapping parts or just installing boxes.
  10. Not Afraid to Fail. They know there will be some failures and missteps. At first they may not build enough into the price for unforeseens. It’s easy to underestimate an Air Upgrade or Duct Optimization. They also understand the learning curve for installers and techs, and how they will learn over time to become more efficient.

High-Performance Values

If you’re thinking of starting on the path to High-Performance, don’t be daunted by this list. It’s an evolutionary process. The rewards are more than just financial. They will bless your company and your customers many times over!

In a future column we’ll dig deeper into what motivates many High-Performance HVAC contractors to continue this noble work.