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Breaking Through is an archive of leadership coaching and mentorship wisdom that CEOs and upper managers can use as springboards for team discussions and follow-up coaching in one-on-one settings. These resources are written by experienced leaders in:
Training from Industry Experts
Recent Topics & Articles
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Is There a Need for Inspiration?
By: Rich Ashton | Tom's Mechanical
Earlier this week I delivered an informational and inspirational talk to our Residential employees. As always, I struggled to craft a message which would reach the technicians and installers on their level.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Erosion of Trust
By: Rich Ashton | Tom's Mechanical
Trust is the holy grail of doing business. You can’t buy trust and you can’t acquire trust through marketing. Trust is built through experience by companies who do what they say and back their products and services whenever there is an issue.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Responding to Failure
By: Rich Ashton | Tom's Mechanical
Entrepreneurs endure multiple failures before building successful companies. The conclusion must be that it isn’t failure which shuts us down, it is our response to failure which determines our future.
INDUSTRY TAILORED MANAGEMENT TRAINING
Who is Breaking Through Made For?
This website is intended for use by company owners and upper management seeking coaching and mentorship resources for current and new managers, but much of the guidance posted here is applicable to any home services technician or salesperson.
Helping Leaders Overcome Challenges
Breaking Through is a repository of training resources for CEOs and home service business owners who want to promote from within but recognize that many new foremen, site managers, supervisors, project managers or team leads lack previous managerial experience or leadership skills.
Equip Your Leaders With the Right Tool for the Job
Breaking Through gives CEOs and upper management the coaching tools and resources they need to provide actionable advice to new jobsite leaders. Instill future managers in your company with the know-how they need to excel in their role.
Training from Industry Experts
Contributor Spotlight
PRESIDENT
Rich Ashton | Tom's Mechanical
Rich Ashton is the CEO of Tom’s Mechanical, a residential HVAC and plumbing company serving Arlington, TX, as well as Tom’s Commercial. Rich has more than 40 years of industry experience as well as decades of leadership coaching and mentoring expertise.
Recent Posts from Rich
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All Topics and Discussions
OPERATIONS
Are You Proactive or Reactive?
By: Rich Ashton | Tom's Mechanical
Proactive managers welcome challenges as opportunities to demonstrate creative problem solving while reactive managers approach challenges with fear.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Rules, Rules and More Rules
By: Rich Ashton | Tom's Mechanical
Clearly, we have a need for rules, but some of them seem unnecessary. How do you know when you have enough?
LEADERSHIP SKILLS
What is "Managing Up"?
By: Rich Ashton | Tom's Mechanical
Imagine that one of our great service technicians is wrapping up a service call with some bad news for the customer. “Your compressor is grounded and cannot be repaired..."
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