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Why You Should Understand Greg Wittstock: Too, you will hear that the owner of this company providing you with this beautiful pond can be a real "piece of work". And you should know why people say that. Greg Wittstock is a very young man as of this writing. He built the Aquascape Design company "from the ground up" most literally, with real blood sweat and tears. He built ponds, and pushed a shovel across the north eastern United States, forwarding Aquascape one pond at a time. Somehow, he managed to make Aquascape into "the 900-lb Gorilla of the pond trade" and that feat is not accomplished by poor followup or poor products and services. America likes what he's selling. This business expansion is quite an accomplishment for a team of people, but for one entrepreneur, it is singularly impressive. Mr Wittstock sacrificed quite a bit to get here including a falling out over the business direction with his own father; a relationship which is slowly being restored as these two willful men begin to appreciate each other in new capacities. Greg is strong willed and involved in every area of the business, both personally and administratively. As an example of his involvement, he has taken a sincere interest in his employees. He's challenged some to quit smoking, and paid for their efforts. He's sent his top cadre of aids unexpected gifts just because he thought some new technology was "cool". He's helped with medical bills, illnesses, family crises, and even language barriers. Around Greg, his staff comes to feel like family. This spawns loyalty and a friendship that goes past "the almighty W-2". Greg Wittstock is a shrewd businessman and is highly absorbent of new ideas when it comes to business administration. For example, a pool table in the main office and a reading library are a testament to the progressive ownership-style of this leader. Sometimes, you will talk to someone who says that Greg Wittstock is 'offensive'. And he has been. I've mentioned his strong personality, which has come across as "forceful" to the point of affecting some people as belligerent or obnoxious. The first time I met him, we chased him down on the "gravel in the pond" debate and he cleared the board room with a tirade that made some peoples' improbable stories of Greg's temper become crystal clear. I think the best thing to do with people who've found Greg 'temperamental' or obtuse, is let those people talk and not to argue with them. Their exposure to Greg has usually been limited to one event, on highly ideological grounds. In fairness to their experiential view, Greg is convinced that his way of doing things in the water garden is the best, and he hasn't given too much quarter to other methods. This can offend people who are successful with these other methods. It is "the way of people" to have their feelings hurt when someone dismisses the way they do (and have done) things. So Greg has not cultivated an audience of 100% supportive persons. Abraham Lincoln sagely supplies that one cannot please "all of the people all of the time". I began working with the Aquascape team as an unpaid consultant in 2003 as a result of my realization that Aquascape would someday control this hobby. I contacted the company and they accepted my offer to consult at no charge. They were however, entirely cordial and paid my travel and dining expenses. What made me contact them was that I have seen correctable flaws in the system and a slight shortfall of comprehensive education for the installers and the consumer of these systems. I began to think I could win friends everywhere in a "win:win" situation of contributing to the education of both the hobbyists and the installers of this Aquascape system, already the most popular and numerous installation in North America. I found Greg Wittstock to be receptive to this idea and tolerant of my crazy "Koi Geek" ideas. (He calls folks who value the ponds' Koi more highly than the plants and aesthetics "Koi Geeks.") Since my visits with Mr. Wittstock, when I encounter people who have formulated the opinion that he's excessively "I'm Right" or perhaps closed minded, I have to consider how their opinion was shaped by some limited experience at a marketing seminar and how his necessary "We're the Best" attitude about his corporate family could shape that opinion. Some folks can get 'put off' by a leader who's so "high" on their method, and entirely validated by their consequent success. Limit me to one word to describe Greg and I would have to decline. Or I'd simply override your request and say "Here's one word to describe Greg Wittstock; Ferocious Visionary, no, that's two words, okay; try Creative Warrior, no, that's two words too. Okay, how about, "MBA on Steroids" no, that's three words. How 'bout "Genghis Pond"? Website contents © 2002 JVC LLC All Rights Reserved |
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