What is a weed? An interesting question that leads to thought-provoking ideas about what plants can teach us about business and life. What can plants teach us about ourselves and about how to manage other people? In this talk learn how to turn weeders into leaders. Jeff McManus is the Director of Landscape Services at the University of Mississippi’s Ole Miss campus. He brought with him the understanding that students regularly mention campus appearance as one of the key factors in their decision to enroll at a University. With that in mind, Jeff and his team developed a system of beautification and landscape management that has led to numerous awards for the Ole Miss campus. Princeton Review and Newsweek Magazine identified the University of Mississippi as our nation’s most beautiful campus. Most recently, Ole Miss was named by USA Today readers as the 2016 America’s Most Beautiful College Campus.

 

Jeff and his staff recognize that education at its best is a community experience. For he and his team, developing and maintaining beauty, order, and safety on the Ole Miss campus is much like a higher calling. Providing faculty, staff and students with clean, safe and beautiful spaces for knowledge sharing is their mission. The recognition and awards attest to their excellence. Jeff holds a bachelor’s degree in Landscape and Ornamental Horticulture from Auburn University and is a Certified Arborist.