Mammoth Sports President Farrant: ‘Do You Have The Courage To Eliminate Dysfunction?’

One day, Mammoth Sports Construction Founder Jake Farrant sat down with his bankers to look over their financial statements. They pointed to a big increase in revenues and asked, “What happened here?”

Farrant smiled at those gathered around the table and said simply, “We had the courage to make some tough choices. We eliminated dysfunction.”

The tough choices involved laying off some of the company’s top salespeople, not for poor performance, but for a poor attitude that did not fit the company culture. The decision forced Farrant to do some serious soul searching.

“This was not what we were supposed to be. This is not how we were supposed to treat people and how we’re supposed to make a difference,” reflected Jake about the layoffs. “It was hard to go backward and let people go who weren’t aligned with our values of faith, family and embracing the small-town team mentality. Some of those people were really good at what they were doing.”

But culture triumphed over caution, and within a few months, the company was making more money than ever and exploded into one of the fastest-growing companies delivering sports construction projects, with clients that included the NFL, SEC, Big 12 and hundreds of high schools around the country.

In the podcast, Farrant shares the core leadership principles he developed as a college football player and business leader who insists on a team-first culture of servant leadership. Listeners to the podcast will learn:

• 7:30  – How to be optimistic and opportunistic.

• 15:30 – How to surround yourself with talented people.

• 19:00 – What it means to truly “embrace loss.”

• 23:00 – How the New Orleans Saints’ field made its way to Jake’s High School in Kansas.

• 27:00 – How Mammoth uses “small-town” values to generate big-time results.

Farrant’s advice to leaders is straightforward. Above all, he says, if you aspire to leadership, don’t just perform well yourself, “bring out the best in other people.”

Check out the full Corporate Competitor Podcast interview archive and subscribe to new episodes.