Tag: #constructionnews

Our pursuit of personal devleopment and self improvement

In our pursuit of personal development and self improvement we are constently working on honing our leadership skills and our ability influence others. You know the better you can communicate your vision, respect for others, and your ability to influence others to want to follow you, the more successful your projects, plans, and goals will be. Your hands on application and training is most effective and accomplished by developing the potential and skills of those you work with and those around you.

In this effort I often use issues and incedences that I experience to study and improve my own skills and the skills and leadership approach of those around me.

Think back over the last few weeks, were there incedences where maybe you came up short with regard to leading your team? Did your team or someone you know experience a challenge or setback that may have been responded to better or possibly avoided completely? Did you have folks around you complaining about other people but not willing to address and resolve the problem?

I’ve experienced or seen all three of these issues recently.

True leaders take extreme ownerships


The best leaders take what retired Navy Seal and leadership expert Jocko Willink call’s Extremme Ownership, The leader develops the vision and with his team develops the plan, then leads, supports, and empowers the team to achieve project goals. I personally fell short recently. One of my pet peeves and something I preach about is NOT assuming someone else is takig care of a task or a loose end. Dont assume, take the initiative and be sure. Yes, team members have their responsibilties and they should live up to the requirement of those responsibilities but they are human, errors are made. I should have as the leader verified everything was in place. I assumed a subcontractor’s paper work for access to a project was in place and being processed.

I try not to micromanage folks, I think it kills individual ownership. Having said that, as the leader of the project and all it entails it is my responsibility, I did not make sure a loose end that can derail progress was tied up. It caused some chaos and scrambling at the last minute. I own that. The leader, and all of us should hold ourselves accountable. Assuring that your team has all it needs, knows exactly what is required, when it’s required, etc. is your responsibility. When they fall short you as the leader have fallen short. Remember, those who want to be their best consider themsleves as leadrs at what ever “level” they are, you need to take the same extreme ownership approach.

When mistakes and set backs occur


As good as you think you are you will experience mistakes and set backs, either by you, your team, or others you interact with. Its how you respond to these experiences that determines first how successful you’ll be and second, how much respect and reverence you build with those you come in contact with. Our goal should always be to learn from mistakes, if you do not dissect the mistake or set back, you won’t learn and you won’t improve. Mistakes are not failures if you learn from them. The goal in life is though to learn as much as you can from other peoples mistakes.

Your very first thought should be, what did I do or not do that created or played a part in this mistake. Our first thought in any issue whether it be work or private life should be to look within. Most fail here, they never look within. Most look at others, pointing fingers, and assigning blame. These are not leaders, these are losers. They lose because they will never learn, their ego does’nt allow it. You must understand that the greatest influence you have in improving any sutuation is YOUR OWN ACTIONS. Humble yourself and reflect inward, ask yourself, how could I have approached this issues differently for a better outcome. The folks that can do this are the confident respected leaders.

Your second thought should be how can I use this setback as a teachable moment for the team or an individual to make them better. Educate them to get better without humiliation or ridule. When they trust that you are correcting them or teaching them for their best interest, in a safe environment, and because you care, you build respect and a loyal ally. Some dont like to be “educated” so this is where your soft skills and savvy come in to play. The best leaders can teach a lesson without talking down to people.

Complainers and whiners


Many people like to talk about a problem, a bad situation, or other people while making no attempt to resolve an issue or problem. Your job when there is a problem is to start facilitating an environment for ideas and solutions. If you dont bring a solution to the problem you are just whining, nobody likes a whiner.

The quickest way to have a team breakdown is to have people talking about a problem they have with an individual with everyone but the individual. Ive seen it first hand myself recently. There is no room for this in your work life or personal life. If you have problem with someone else and if you are confident in yourself you should be able to bring the subject up in a respectful productive manner. If you are’nt confident bringing the subject up you may need to look inward as discussed above. Confront the situation in a respectful manner. A good tactful way is to bring up the issue in the form of questions instead of accusations, examples, can you help me understand? I thought I was in charge of this, was I wrong? Questions like these open the conversation up in a non-threatening accusational manner.

Be intentional about improving, think about how you reacted in the past and how you may want to change that reaction in the future. Always look within, its where you have the most power. Do these things and by your leadership example you make others around you better as well.

High Performance Teams

There’s been a lot of talk lately about high performance teams. If you’re here reading this chances are you are like me, interested in learning and improving your skills, knowledge, and performance. To do that you need to have an open mind to explore new ideas and be open to changing the way we do things.

High performance teams are comprised of any group of people trying to achieve a goal, here’s a few examples;

• A General Contracting project team, Superintendent(s), carpenters, Laborers, project managers, and project engineers.
• A plumbing contractor with a team of Foremen all working on different projects.
• Electrical Subcontractor working on a project with a team of Electricians, apprentices, and laborers.
• A residential HVAC service contractor with a team of Technicians.

The concept is simple, a team of individuals working together to achieve a common goal. The team is put together;

• as a master mind group generally to think through the plan, coordinate interconnected task, to measure progress, and adjust the plan as needed.
• To brain storm solutions to problems.
• To hold each other accountable.
• for personal development

One other element to this team that I think is the most powerful is this, the team genuinely looks out for the interest of the other team members by building trust in each other. How do we do this?

• High performance teams meet weekly to review the scope and schedule and to identify goals for the upcoming week. (coordinated with the project schedule) Identifies daily activities for the next week required to achieve weekly goals.
• Sets stretch goals, longer terms goals. This could be schedule milestones for the next 4 to 6 weeks, completing more billable service calls over the next month, or hitting your schedule marks while reducing labor cost are just a few examples.
• Review the prior weeks goals, what goals did we achieve? Where did we fall short and why? How do we fit the completion of missed goals in this weeks schedule without negatively impacting the scheduled goals for this week?
• What does each individual need, resources, materials, etc. to hit his/her marks for the week?
• What issues or problems are team members having? How can we find solutions? Is there another team member that can help?

High perfomance teams are built on trust and respect working with laser focus on a common goal.

High Performance Teams are built on trust

These meetings are where trust is built. This is where team members should be able to share exactly where they are, what they need, and problems they are having in an environment where everyone is looking out for each other. There’s is no ego or competition, the project or goals are the priority. When one succeeds everyone succeeds.
I know no-one wants more unproductive boring meetings on their schedule but I’m telling you, if you put your team together and implement the High-Performance Team concept your project will be more productive, efficient, and successful.
It takes a real leader to build a High-Performance team, are you that leader?

Three Steps to 90 day learning cycles

The only way we become our best and stay on top of our game is if we commit to lifelong learning. How much better would you be in a year if you committed to studying a new subject, trade, or product every 90 days. I want to share with you three steps to 90 day learning cycles to make you the best you can be. These ideas work for any career or industry.

Lifelong Learning is the key to achievment and success, Start with 90 day learning cycles

ONE – Work harder on yourself than you do on your job

The great Jim Rohn said, work harder on yourself than you do at your job. If you havent heard of Jim Rohn I encourage you to watch this video . The idea is, work hard at developing your self, developing your potential, and building on your skills and knowledge. If you will do this the bring more value to the maret place. The more value you bring, the more income, benefits, and perks you can demand.

Work on your leadership and people skils, what is called, the soft skills. These skills will take you farther than your field knowledge. If you can influence others to want to work for you, to want to carry out your vision, and build loyalty and respect you will be successful.

I advise starting out reading all you can. Commit to reading one book a month. The best place to start for leadership is John Maxwell, read all his books. I recomend starting with, “Developing the Leader Within You”.
The best book there is on developing people skills is “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. Read this book and then re-read once every year.

Two – Study The different discplines of the industry picking a new subject every 90 days.

We all have areas we are strong, and then if we are honest we would have to admit we all have areas we are weaker. Lets strengthen our weaknesses. As the Superintendent on the job, the more you know about each trade the better you can understand the needs of the project and the requirements of your trade partners.

Pick a subject, concrete, utilities, electrical, HVAC systems for example and find liturature or books to study your subject for 90 days. Each industry has loaded the internet with information on thier products, systems and codes. Firestone Building products website for example is loaded with liturature detailing specifications, installation instructions, and details. You can find this type of information for almost everything you’ll encounter on the job.

Utilize the information on the internet, purchase a book, or ask your trade partners you currently work with if they have any books or information you can borrow.

Three – Utilize your current trade partners as resources

Once you’ve decided what your subject of study is for a specific 90 day cycle, utilize your trade partners as resources. Take a foreman from a Subcontractor to lunch and pick his brain about his trade and his job. Most people love to talk about themselves and they will take a free lunch.

Be right up front and tell them you’re interested in learning more about his/her trade. This is your chance to ask questions from those in the trenches. Questions like, what are code requirements or even better, what is typically a reason inspections are failed? What is the biggest contributor to inefficiencies in your work? How could I help you be more efficient or effective in getting your work done? Is there a particular trade you need to coordinate with the most and how can this be improved?

This is also a great opportunity to build relationships, show them you care. Ask them how they got into the trade and there back ground.

Imagine how much you can learn if you didthis just once a month for a year with different trade parters.

Want to be the best? You’ve got to keep learning

The Best Leaders Encourage a Diversity of Thought

If you want to separate yourself from the pack and be the most effective leader you can be, you’ve got to challenge yourself. Challenge your thoughts, your ideas, and most importantly your ego. You’ve got to have the courage to encourage a diversity of thought within your team.

I’ve been around a lot of smart people in the construction industry. I’ve noticed there are some people who are really smart, but they don’t reach their full potential. They get “out-performed” by others who may not have the education or experience they have. Often they top out, they hit a wall they just can’t get beyond. What causes this?

CHECK YOUR EGO

Typically, its their ego. They arrogantly feel like they are so smart there is nothing anyone else can teach them. There’s nothing they can learn from the folks that work for or around them. The mear thought of giving consideration to the ideas of others is a challenge their ego and they can’t have that. Know anyone like that? I’ve seen it, been around it, don’t like it.
You know, the guy that knows it all. Once that’s your mind set you are destined to be mediocre. You may achieve a certain level of success, but you’ll never be the best you can be.

Diversity OF Thought

So how do you get the best from yourself and the team around you? After all its about the team and the success of the project, isn’t it? All teams need the best information and ideas to be most effective. By promoting a diversity of thought the best solutions rise to the top.

Theres a lot of talk about diversity these days. Typically this focuses simply on races, gender, age for example. These differences are important as they shape peoples perspective but theres a more important component. These different perspectives shape peoples ideas and thought processes. Leaders who create an environment of trust where all team mates are comfortable sharing their thoughts, thier ideas, lead more successful teams.

Successful teams bring idependent thought and ideas together for a common goal

Example

How do you do this? Look for and encourage a diversity of thought. The biggest break throughs and discoveries come from crazy ideas. If you have blinders on and stick with the old, “this is the way we always do it” mentality, you are going to get left behind. A true leader isn’t afraid to ask questions of others. Get your team together, maybe a trusted circle of peers, and start kicking around ideas.

Here’s what I started doing over the last year with great results. When trying to find solutions to schedule, work flow, details, whatever the issue at the time is we can be hesitant to throw out ideas because we fear what others might think. I know that’s not you but its just about everyone else. You’ve got to take fear and hesitation off the table right up front.

I start off this way, I talk about the greatest inventions of the world. The greatest breakthroughs started off as a crazy vision or idea that were originally thought to be a non-starter or crazy. These crazy ideas were the launching pad to breakthroughs, inventions, and solutions.

Then I throw out an aggressive goal or farfetched idea to get the conversation started. On more than one occasion I’ve had a team member say, well if we’re thinking crazy, how about this? And the conversation starts.

Typically, this is how it goes down. I throw out an idea that may never work, but we are stretching our thought process right? What happens then is we end up saying, no we cant do that but what if we do this, and then we could, and so on. When you throw out big crazy ideas you can easily work your way back to what’s real. In doing this often the team as a whole stretches their thinking and the answers and outcomes are better than anyone individually thought was possible.

What type of leader are you?

Don’t be afraid of someone having a better idea. A true leader is confident in themselves and builds an environment where a diversity of thought is a goal. The best field leaders’ number one priority is the success of the project and the team. Check your ego and focus the best ideas and solutions and you will excel and be known as a great leader.

A CALL TO ACTION TO IMPROVE FINANCIAL HEALTH

Theres a lot of talk about the Government shut down and Government workers not being able to pay bills or buy food after not being paid for thirty days. While I have compassion for thier struggle, we’ve got to use this situation as a wake up call. A call to action to improve our financial health.

I typically like to talk about and focus on leadership and developing better Construction Field Leaders. This subject however impacts us all. This past month its been the government shut down but we in the construction industry know all to well the impact of shut downs, economic down turns, and hard ship.

The financial heath and fitness of Americans is in bad shape, really bad shape. Look at a few of the statistics from Debt.com;

Just how bad is it?

19% have $0 saved
31% have less than $500
39% have less than $1000 saved
Th avaerage American credit card debt is $16,245
44% could not pay for a $400 emrgency out of pocket

How do we fix this?

First of all understand that it is fixable. We’ve got to first recognize the problem, seek out the solutions, then employ some discipline, and take action. The steps needed aren’t any real secret or some amazing strategy. They’ve been the same since the begining of time. Obviously number one is, dont spend more than you make. The old saying is, it isnt how much you make, its how much you keep. Its not a well guarded secret, its that simple. So how do you do that or more importanly, how do you get out of debt and on the road to saving?

I am a big advocate of Dave Ramseys work, full disclosure I am a certified Dave Ramsey financial coach. Ramsey has

After setting up you budget, these are the steps to freedom
transformed the lives of thousands of people struggling with debt. His basic priciples, the 7 baby steps is simple but effective. To start the baby stpes you must have a budget to undertsand whats happening with the money you are earning now. Have you ever wondered, where does all my money go? Most Americans do. To start the baby steps you must have a budget for the following reasons;

1. Understand where your money is going.
2. Identify wastefull spending and habits.
3. Make adjustments and tell your money where to go. Intentional spending.
4. Priorotize and set goals.
5. Track your spending/savings goals

We’ve got to take control of and be responsible for our own financial health. Follow these steps and teachings and you can protect yourself against the next government shutdown, lay off, or economic downturn.

Three ways to build trust, loyalty, and respect in the field

We all know construction can be a tough business, we need buy in and cooperation from everyone on the job if we want to have any chance of success. Building trust, respect, and loyalty is paramount for leaders who want to be the best they can be.

How others respond to you, their respect and loyalty, and their willingness to go the extra mile for you is in direct proportion to how you treat them and others.
Here’s three ways to build trust, loyalty, and respect in the field;

IT STARTS WITH YOU

Treat everyone on the job the same

Treat everyone with respect and honor, from the Owner/Architect, the Subcontractor foremen, to the laborer cleaning up. Everyone gets treated equally and respectfully. Obviously, everyone wants to be treated well but they are also watching how you treat others. When you show the laborer the same respect you show the Architect, or your boss, you gain respect. When you are genuinely interested in other and believe care about them and have their best interest in mind, you’ve built an ally.
“People Won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” Teddy Roosevelt

Do NOT criticize people publicly


There are obviously be times when you need to correct someone’s behavior, or address subpar performance, or quality of work. If possible, this must be done on a one on one bases. It should be done in the spirit of positive attitude and constructive criticism.

I’ve never been one to sugar coat a serious performance or quality issue, if there’s a problem I’m all about getting it corrected sooner rather than later. I do believe there’s a good way and a bad way to deal with these issues when working with people, I good leaders know the difference.
The good leader will address the problem head on while letting the individual save face, stay confident while understanding what they need to improve. A simple approach you may of heard of is the “sandwich approach”, this is where you start out with some positives the individual has going for them, things they are doing right. The middle is where you lay out the problem. You explain what the problems are and how they are impacting the project, the team, and relationships. Talk about how these issues can be improved and what you need to see out of them. Finally finish up again with a positive trait they have, why they are so important to the project and the team. And let them know that they are important to you and important to the success of the project.

The poor leader will call them out in a meeting in a room full of people. I’ve see the poor leader yell and scream at his employee if front of the entire site. This “leader has lost all trust not only in the individual he humiliates but also those who witness this. They know it could be them next. The days of the yeller and screamer to try and get production are long gone.

Do not gossip or talk about people behind their back

Why should they care what you know?

Its amazing to me the gossiping that goes on around a construction site. When someone talks disparagingly about someone else to me, I always think, is this how they talk about me?
I don’t mean talking the job but personal attacks or insults. There’s no place for it. The good leader understands this, the poor leader is too arrogant to care.

Practice the three simple concepts and you can build trust, loyalty, and respect in the field. See what John Maxell say about loyalty.