Leadership Jam fuels hi-octane networking. (Industry almanac: news you can use).

CHARLOTTE, NC -- NASCAR Race Week here pulsates with noise, commerce and color. Faces are red with excitement. There's whooping. Back slapping. Spirited conversation. And new friends.

Whoa, partner. We haven't even gotten to the race yet. That up-your-tailpipe extravaganza (with the winner taking home a cool $1 million in front of 180,000 frenzied fans) blasted off later.

The hi-octane energy I'm referring to actually began 13 hours before the race. Sixty landscape and lawn service professionals met in an airy conference room at the American headquarters of G