Chris Stathakis' LEADERSHIP Blog!

Three Simple Rules To Survive 50 Years in Business

Chris Stathakis — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 16:24:22 GMT

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to present to our management team as we celebrated an important milestone: 50 years in business at Stathakis. Reaching half a century as a company is an achievement in any industry, but in commercial cleaning—where performance is evaluated every single day—it is especially meaningful. More importantly, I wanted to share three simple reasons why we have been in business for 50 years and why those same reasons will drive our future.

Stathakis is a commercial cleaning company providing janitorial services to large businesses across Michigan and Ohio. We clean industrial plants, educational campuses, office complexes, healthcare environments, and other demanding facilities where cleanliness, safety, and compliance are non-negotiable. In our industry, we’re only as good as last night’s work. That reality keeps us grounded. It also reminds us that staying in business for five decades requires constant flexibility—being able to pivot quickly as client needs, labor markets, regulations, and economic conditions change, without ever losing sight of our standards.

That expectation isn’t unique to our industry. Any company that wants to survive in today’s world of rapid communication and advancing technology must be able to make fast, informed decisions. Service failures are visible immediately, and reputations can change overnight. But despite all the tools, automation, data, and technology available, our business has always come down to something much simpler and more human.

We are in a people business, successfully managing people so they can serve other people. Our teams are the ones who show up at odd hours, work around production schedules, protect sensitive environments, and handle the details most people never see—but everyone notices when they’re missed. When we hire well, train thoroughly, support consistently, and lead with respect, our people are empowered to take care of our customers’ facilities as if they were their own.

When you look at it that way, leadership becomes clearer. It’s not just about dashboards, contracts, or procedures—it’s about building a culture where doing the right thing is expected and supported. No matter how advanced your technology is, how big your team is, or how large or small your company may be, long-term success still comes down to a few fundamentals that don’t change with the latest trend or economic cycle.

There are no shortcuts to success (3 rules):

1) Do the work – Show up, follow through, and be willing to tackle the hard, unglamorous tasks that keep facilities clean, safe, and operational.

2) Do it right – Take pride in quality, pay attention to the details, follow the process, and never cut corners—especially when no one is watching.

3) Do it repeatedly – Deliver the same level of service day after day, shift after shift, year after year, so customers know they can rely on you.

That’s what 50 years in our business really looks like: consistent effort, done the right way, over a long period of time. And it’s the same formula that will carry us into the next 50 years.

Ubuntu Webpage

Chris Stathakis — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 18:11:17 GMT

Ubuntu is a worldview and philosophy that originated in Africa. The values and ideas behind Ubuntu have practical applications for our ever-expanding global community.

At its core, Ubuntu is about the essence of being human. It is about what it means to be human and how we best relate to our fellow humans. The central idea in Ubuntu is:

I AM WHO I AM BECAUSE OF WHO WE ALL ARE.

Ubuntu emphasizes that while we are individuals, we do not exist separately from each other. It is akin to the phrase, "no man is an island." We depend on one another, and when we recognize this as our natural state as humans, we can adjust how we interact with each other in a way that honors our connection. In this sense, Ubuntu can be used as a guide for how we interact with others—whether at work, at home, or in the world at large.

The cornerstones of Ubuntu and positive interaction are:

Dignity
Compassion
Humaneness
Respect
Concern
Tolerance

Ubuntu is about people working together for the betterment of all. In our modern world, marked by economic difficulties and future uncertainties, it can be challenging to embrace the idea that there is enough for everyone—that we can best help ourselves by also helping others. Yet, it is precisely in times like these that Ubuntu's principles can help connect us with others and build bridges to weather the storms of life.

Some of the best takeaways from Ubuntu include:

Problem-solving is more valuable than placing blame
Civilized dialogue helps us identify and solve problems
Respecting each individual as important and valuable
What is good for the group is often good for the individual
Cooperation and collaboration uplift us as individuals, companies, and communities
Mutual support and concern for others help move us forward
There is no shortage of opportunity for development and growth for each of us

Ubuntu is about community, and in today's world, community means something much broader than it used to. True community accommodates all of us. Since Ubuntu speaks to how humans best work together, its ideas fit our communities and workplaces very well.

A Safe & Happy 4th From All of Us at Stathakis

Chris Stathakis — Thu, 04 Jul 2019 20:05:48 GMT

Independence day offers those of us here in America the opportunity to reflect on our past and imagine our future. This July 4^th commemorates the day our Continental Congress declared that those first thirteen colonies were free and no longer the subjects England. What a bold move, what a lofty goal our Founders set for America. Over the last 243 years, we Americans have continued this legacy, a populace of revolutionaries, fighters, sometimes bombastic, argumentative, often firmly entrenched in our opinions and visions for our country.

Certainly in our current times we have seen no less fervor all around. No matter what your leanings or passions regarding politics, Independence Day offers a day to reflect on where we come from and where we are going. It provides us a day to honor our past and the women and men who have fought and died protecting us. It is a good day to revere, respect and uphold the ideas and ideals we have and continually strive for in this country that we are all a part of.

I wish each and all of you, our employees, customers and all of your families
a safe and happy 4^th of July. Happy Independence Day!

Inspiration, Influence & Impact

Chris Stathakis — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 19:00:00 GMT

“Leadership isn’t about a title, it’s about inspiration, influence and impact.” -Robin Sharma

True leadership is about inspiration, influence and impact, how true does this ring? Inspiration, influence and impact, sure they sound good but what do they really mean?

Inspiration is about sharing your vision, setting a destination and getting your team excited about reaching it. Think about the leaders who have most inspired you. Maybe it was a coach, a teacher, a mentor but it isn’t likely it was their position or title that instilled confidence or awe but rather their ability to help us see something we couldn’t see before. Maybe they saw something in us and challenged us to work for it. Maybe they showed us possibilities for our organization we had not seen before. Do you inspire your team? Do you get your people excited about pushing through their own limitations and achieving more? Are you effectively sharing your vision for your organization with your team? Are you finding and sharing ways to have fun and get excited about the work?

Influence is essentially your ability to get people to do what you want and follow you. Influence can be built from consideration, trust, competency, past successes, reliability and more. After all, the more your people trust your intentions and competence, the more comfortable they are following your lead. None of us can operate at one-hundred percent here because not everything we hope for comes to fruition and setbacks and obstacles ultimately fall on our shoulders. Still, the better we treat people, the more we keep our word and the more we set goals and achieve them, the more influence we wield. Without influence, our vision is on shaky ground because it’s unlikely we can get there on our own without a team of very good people around us.

Finally, impact is the results we get. If you are a leader you know, results count. No matter how enthusiastic you are, no matter what influence you yield, if you don’t get results, none of it matters. We may have a good intent but really, impact is what is ultimately the measuring stick of success. Did we do the things we set out to do? Did we effectively push through difficulties and remove obstacles? Did we change course when needed? Did we offer our people the tools to succeed? Did we succeed? Are you holding your people accountable to those factors you know are likely to result in a win? Are you working with the end impact in mind? Are you lining up the win with all of the small steps required to get a victory?

Leadership can be an elusive, hard to pin down set of qualities but certainly, inspiration, influence and impact all play into our success within our organizations.

Leaders Light a Path: They Know The Way, Go The Way & Show The Way

Chris Stathakis — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 21:53:31 GMT

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.”

John C. Maxwell

This quote really resonates with me. You just can’t guide people if you yourself don’t know where you are going.

You may not always be able to cut a clear path to where you are headed, but you at least have to have some idea of the destination.

In fact, I would contend that a huge portion of a leader’s energy, time and resources should be spent mapping that destination.

All too often leaders , even the best of us, get bogged down in details rather than spending the time needed creating a vision for our organizations and planning the path forward.

This can happen for many reasons and it can affect even the most focused leaders.

Some leaders get sidetracked on elements of their business that could easily be delegated but that they simply enjoy doing.

I know many business leaders who enjoy joining sales calls, planning marketing strategies, or personally interviewing employees—not because they must, but because they want to.

That is perfectly understandable. Staying engaged with the work we enjoy often helps us find satisfaction in our roles.

However, I also see leaders getting stuck doing tasks they do not want to do that could also be delegated.

Sometimes leaders believe no one else can do the task the way they can. Often that’s true.

Other times they believe they don’t have time to teach someone else how to do it.

While that may also be true in the short term, it can be shortsighted.

Delegating responsibilities you once handled yourself can be difficult. The reality is someone else will not do it exactly the same way you did.

Yes, training someone requires more time upfront. But the long-term time savings allow you to focus on the responsibilities only you can perform as a leader.

As the new year approaches, I am reminded to refocus my energy on areas of my organization that truly require my leadership.

At the same time, I want to help develop the people around me so they can take on new challenges and responsibilities.

Doing so frees me to focus on guiding the organization forward.

I also challenge all of us to continue developing our maps and visions for our companies so we can truly know the way, go the way, and show the way.

Happy New Year !

The Mask of Leadership

Chris Stathakis — Tue, 30 Oct 2018 21:11:00 GMT

Halloween is soon upon us and it got me thinking about costumes, disguises and masks. During Halloween, and really, all year long, these are the things we use to try on other roles for size getting creative about what we might be, obscure our identity, and even cover our emotions in an effort to appear other than we are.

As leaders, we are responsible for a great deal and most of us wear multiple hats and play a variety of roles both in our businesses and in the other parts of our lives. We choose to and even have to wear a mask at times. Call it a defense, call it armor or a way to push through our own fear, insecurity or discomfort, but most of us do it on occasion. It might be a mask we put on of cool detachment when we are negotiating an important deal. Or perhaps it is the mask of calm as we wear in a crisis that is designed to keep others calm and lend an air of stability and security, though we ourselves might be feeling unmoored.

A mask can be both a positive and a negative. Of course leadership often requires us to ‘mask’ our immediate feelings and charge ahead into the unknown. And sometimes, this external composure, even though we might be wavering internally, can help chart a course to smoother waters.

But if the mask is becoming so comfortable that you forget to take it off, you might want to think about where it is useful and where it isn’t. For example, a mask of cool collectedness can be good when seas are rocky but if the boat is literally falling apart and you are cool and collected, your team will think you are just in denial or insane not recognizing things falling apart around you. And when having to let an employee go or make difficult choices in your business, a calm head and some detachment can be useful, but not to the point where people think you are inhuman or indifferent to decisions that are legitimately tough on other people. The mask can be useful but if you wear it so much you feel disconnected from who you really are it’s likely time to rethink your approach.

Some tough times call for a mask and others call for being fully present and even vulnerable. While sometimes it can feel that vulnerability and acknowledging and showing your people that something is hard or uncomfortable or emotional can seem weak, it is also perceived as strength. Bravery is after all not being fearless but about being afraid and doing it anyway. It isn’t the absence of fear but the triumph over it. And seeing someone in a leadership position acknowledge fear, stress, uncertainty and discomfort and watch them move forward anyhow can be incredibly affirming and inspiring for our people. Not only do they see us as more human, but they see us brave, courageous, gutsy, bold and unshakeable.

As this season of masks, costumes and disguises descends upon us, take a moment to reflect where in your life the mask serves you, and where it does not. Where the mask is a tool and where authenticity should lead. Vision, initiative, influence, integrity, and impact are major elements of effective leadership and most of these come from you, mask off, face to face.

Handle Tough Conversations Like a True Leader

Chris Stathakis — Tue, 15 May 2018 23:09:41 GMT

Whether you are announcing exciting new changes within your organization or terminating an employee, these conversations can be difficult. Sometimes they are exciting for you but potentially scary for employees, like major company or staffing changes. Sometimes, like terminations and layoffs, there is simply no good news to counter the bad news. While you can’t make everyone happy or make bad news happy, as a leader, you can handle tough conversations from a position of strong, capable leadership and make these conversations as easy and smooth as possible. What can you do to make your tough conversations go better for everyone involved?

Be honest and be direct. Sugar coating or stepping around the elephant in the room doesn’t help anyone. Get to the point, be honest, be direct and wherever possible, be kind. Of course, some truths or information cannot be shared but do your best to be direct about what is happening and why. People recover from change better if they at least understand it.

Don’t read from a script but it’s a good idea to collect your thoughts beforehand. Use a few bullet points if you need them. Practice if it helps you. With tough or weighty conversations, preparation is key. Not only does it help you make sure you touch on important points, it can reduce your discomfort by helping you feel ready to present information and answer questions with at least some amount of ease.

Be clear and provide enough information. This can be hard because when you know the details, it can be easy to think you have fully communicated when perhaps you have left out important information that might provide much needed context. Make sure you customize your conversation to the intended recipient and you give them the details that are meaningful to them.

Don’t let small stumbles throw you off course. There are very few people who relish tough conversations so if you trip over your words or misstep, just correct yourself if you need to and keep moving. Our mistakes or misspeaks are more noticeable to us than anyone else.

Put yourself in your listener’s shoes. If you are changing someone’s work life in a meaningful way, understand that whether it is positive or negative, news takes time to adjust to. Don’t get bent out of shape or defensive if you announce exciting news to your team only to see a sea of unsure expressions and trepidation. You likely have had a while to warm to changes, you team may not.

If it’s difficult news, deal with your feelings somewhere else. Listen, it’s hard to lay off an employee, terminate an employee or explain a restructuring plan to a room full of employees, only some of which will ultimately have a job, losing a key piece of business or whatever your bad news is. Being a leader doesn’t mean you don’t have feelings, just that you don’t burden the people you lead with them. So keep the “I feel so bad about this” and “I wish I didn’t have to do this” “this is so hard for me” for your spouse, business partner or therapist. No one getting bad news really cares how you feel.

Be kind and compassionate where possible. Of course not every situation calls for it but wherever you can, be a human being who cares about people. It doesn’t mean you have to help them or feel sorry for them, but wherever possible, be nice. Tough conversations are not pleasant, but compassion can help you deliver bad news as fair and kindly as possible. Keep in mind people remember how you made them feel and it’s a small world.

If it doesn’t go so great, don’t beat yourself up. Review what worked, what didn’t and adjust course accordingly.

Taking Care of Business Means Taking Care of You

Chris Stathakis — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 15:40:15 GMT

As leaders, we quite naturally spend a great deal of our time and focus taking care of others, our businesses, our families and our people. So it isn’t surprising that more than a few leaders aren’t so great at taking care of themselves.

Why is this kind of self-care so tough for so many of us to do? First, we are legitimately busy. I know everyone likes to say “oh, I’m so busy,” but the leaders I know are truly busy. When you are busy, it’s easy to shift your own needs to the bottom of that very large pile.

It isn’t surprising that more than a few leaders aren’t so great at taking care of themselves.

But here lies the challenge: if you don’t make the time to take care of yourself, your capacity to help others will diminish over time.

You can become tired—the kind of tired a nap or a good night’s sleep can’t fix. Burnout and pessimism can creep in, which is unusual for leaders whose eyes are usually fixed on possibilities and opportunities.

As leaders, we have to remember that despite our drive, vision and work ethic, we aren’t robots. We need to make sure we are somewhere on the list of people and priorities that deserve care.

As leaders, we have to remember that despite our sometimes superhuman drive, vision and work ethic, we aren’t robots.

And really, how can we effectively lead others, set a good example and create environments where human needs are recognized if we can’t do these things for ourselves first?

Think about what your own needs are. What are the things that make you feel good, supported and fulfilled?

It might be spending time with your family, watching a movie that helps you decompress after a stressful day, committing to regular exercise, going to bed earlier, eating better or keeping up with preventative health checkups.

For many of us, it also means nurturing the relationships that inspire us to lead in the first place—making time for spouses, partners, children and close friends.

Listen, you can’t surf the same wave over and over again without eventually getting bored of it, no matter how great it felt the first time.

The best leaders understand that if we don’t take time to check in with ourselves and care for our own needs, our leadership abilities will eventually suffer.

Taking care of yourself isn’t selfish—it’s essential if you want to be of service to others.

And part of self-care also means keeping yourself inspired. Chances are that if you are in a leadership role, something or someone inspired you along the way.

If you stop seeking inspiration, work can start to feel like just work.

So continue to look for new sources of inspiration, keep your curiosity alive, and sharpen your sense of purpose so you remain energized for the next step.

You ARE the Team

Chris Stathakis — Fri, 01 Sep 2017 19:35:04 GMT

We talk about teamwork quite a lot in the world of business. We want more engaged, more productive teams. We want them to be more self-driven, more successful. And yet, all too often, we look at ourselves as the ‘leader’ and our employees as the ‘team’ when really, we ARE the team. Like the front pin in a rack of bowling pins, if we go down, you can bet those around us will.

As the leader, WE determine the overall energy of our teams. WE set the pace for performance and expectations. No matter how capable our people are, it isn’t typical that they will meet standards that we don’t set AND live by. What standards and goals must we as leaders embrace personally and professionally to create the right atmosphere and motivation for our teams?

Respect

There has to be respect, always. If you don’t respect someone, get them out because whether you want it to or not, your team will see it and it will foster a lack of respect within your team.

Help Each Other

This sounds like a no brainer, of course we want to help each other, but everyone gets busy, focused on their own work and before long, we become boats adrift alone in the ocean instead of a fleet of ships in formation. The only way to counter this is to actively set an intention to help each other even if it creates more work or takes you away from something. As long as it’s working toward common goals, we must be ready to assist our team members.

Communicate

In order to grow our teams we have to keep everyone in the loop. We have to remind them where we are going and we have to do it often. Sharing our vision helps get our people excited and knowing the goals, large and small, gives them the energy and motivation to keep going even when it gets hard.

Pause Before Reacting

Look, leaders are people too. We get frustrated, angry, impatient, disappointed, incredulous, all of it. We can’t keep the emotions from happening but we can keep them in check. We can do this by practicing pausing before we speak or react. When there is an issue, pause, take a breath before you react. And if it’s hard to stay calm, stick a pin in it. You can say, “you know what, I’d like to think about this” or “let’s come back to this later after I have had a chance to get all of the information.” This way you can process your negative emotions on your own and talk to your people when you are in the headspace to problem solve.

Take the Focus Off Of Problems And Put It On Solutions

Ultimately these are the same thing right? Trying to fix something that isn’t working. But focusing on solutions invites your team to address an issue and accept responsibility without shame and blame. People just naturally do better when there is room for a fix and solutions without getting mired in their failures.

Honor Your Commitments

It is so simple, you cannot expect your employees to keep their commitments if you do not. It’s not about being dishonest or untrustworthy, but when you let things slide that you said you would do, even small things, over time you erode trust. Trust is vital to a well performing team.

Little Things Mean A Lot

Things move so fast and there is always so much to do, so it’s hard to pause and catch up. So when you want to do something nice for your team, don’t just bring in lunch for them, HAVE lunch with them. Eat together, take those twenty minutes and don’t have a meeting, just eat. Talk about business, problems, life, whatever, but be present. Sure you could be checking email or making a dent in the paperwork that threatens to topple your desk, but you’ll get that done anyhow. You’ll net much more giving a little bit of yourself and your time to your team.

Be Willing To Do More

Accept that in a leadership position you will always be expected and motivated to do more. Whether it’s the position, the prestige or the paycheck, chances are, you are better incentivized to keep going long after the clock hits 5:00pm. It’s unlikely you can get your team to work harder than you but when they see you continually put in the extra effort, they are more likely to give you their all.

Celebrate Success

It’s hard to continually drive team members to a goal if you don’t celebrate reaching it. Come on, we are all people and people like to be complimented, validated, rewarded, all of it. It doesn’t really matter WHAT you choose to do but do it.

Leadership 101: Motivating Your People

Chris Stathakis — Wed, 05 Jul 2017 20:12:44 GMT

Here at Stathakis, our people are the foundation of our business. Being in the service business, if our people are not trained, motivated and managed well, nothing else really matters. There simply is no way to make up for people problems in a service business. But motivating people isn’t a straight line from A to B. People are individuals and what may excite one person may not do anything for another. And let’s face it, no matter how talented someone is or how self-driven, we ALL need to be motivated to continually do our best and strive higher, even us leaders.

So do you want to know how to motivate your teams? Great leaders don’t have just one way to motivate people, they have at least a dozen ways! If you as a leader need some motivation to motivate, consider the following list of some of my go to ways to get people fired up, engaged in the work we do and doing their best.

Ask questions because the more informed you are the better your decisions will be and the more your people will respect them. If they believe you are making decisions without really knowing how it impacts everyone, they are far less likely to comply. Lots of questions signals that you really want to know what is going on and makes your help and input much more effective.

Provide specific, positive feedback to your people. People need to know what they are doing right and they need you to notice. Specific praise from you the leader is gas in your employee’s tank and the fuel for more good work. Why? Because event he best employees may get defeated and deflated if they think no one notices their effort. And even if you have a problematic or less than stellar team member, try your best to find something, anything to call out as positive, it can be remarkably effective in turning things around.

But don’t be afraid to hold people accountable. Positive feedback is important to morale but so is accountability. Your people need to know that when they deliver less than expected, it is unacceptable. To your lower performers, this accountability can provide the incentive to toe the line. For your high performing people, seeing others face consequences for nonperformance is its own kind of positive feedback.

Be clear and realistic about what you expect. Your people can’t win the race if they don’t know where the finish line is. And don’t set expectations too high hoping the higher they are, the harder your people will work. High-level performers get demotivated if the goal is unreachable or unrealistic.

Walk the walk. You must, must lead by example or what you say carries significantly less weight. You are a powerful role model but if you have rules that you don’t follow, you will be forced to rely on threats and force to assure compliance. But when you lead by example, your team is INSPIRED to do better. Inspiration is much more effective long term.

Be a know-it-all. Your competency in what you do provides direction and stability for your team. Understanding the many moving parts of your business is a critical part of leadership. Your employees need to feel like there is a reason you are in charge and captaining the ship, you are the expert. That doesn’t mean you can’t ever be wrong and even go off course, only that you must be the one who continually strives to know and understand more because you are the one who has to see the bigger picture.

Reward and recognize hard work, integrity and responsibility. These people are the core of your business and need to be told, rewarded and grown. People that are natural hard workers with a high degree of integrity and responsibility can be the best seeds to plant long term. Which brings us to the next key point.

Encourage and look for opportunities to grow good people. If you find an employee that has desire, a willingness to learn and work and a sense of responsibility, you can TEACH them the skills for the job. Training someone on reporting or how to use inspection software is MUCH easier than trying to instill a strong work ethic in someone that doesn’t already have one.

Be authentic and connect with your people. People can sense authenticity and it builds trust. That doesn’t mean you have to be nice or touchy-feely, just be yourself. And get to know your people because people who feel seen and cared about will work so much harder for you. If you think you don’t have time, delegate some of your other duties to managers under you because the caring and connection must come from you.

Be a visionary. As a leader, you MUST offer a clear picture of the future for your people. Of course change is inevitable but presenting a vision for the future as you see it gives your employees a sense of security in your leadership.

Leading a large team is like nothing else. It is often tiring, thankless, lonely and comes with so much responsibility, even the toughest and most well suited among us can falter or lose sight of our real purpose in leading a team. When you are struggling to motivate your team, go back to these points and work out some ways to do more and better for you, your people and your organization. The work is hard but the rewards are there.