Tag: #Ownership #construction #leader

A little levity to the situation, some calm, reason, and logic.

With all that going on in our country right now I think its important to bring a little levity to the situation, some calm, reason, and logic.

Let me start by saying its clear what the officer did was 100% wrong, he murdered Mr. Floyd. I have no understanding as to why the other officers didn’t stop it. This whole scenario could have been prevented so easily. Im waiting for the other officers to be charged as well.

Having said that I think the whole perception around what many call a “systemic” problem is being viewed from a skewed perspective. The problem will never be solved if it is continued to be viewed as Police are all bad, white people are all racist, white people villains, black people all victims, or vise versa. It’s more complex, if you want to solve it or even understand it you need to ask hard questions of white people and black people. Both must be honest about all the components that make up the environment that creates these issues and the societal generally . Former Attorney General Eric Holder said and I’m paraphrasing, we are to scared in America to have a true conversation about race. I believe that to be true. We cannot have a true conversation about race until BOTH sides look within and honestly answer some hard questions.

I’m not going to solve the issue here but here’s my message for anyone who wants to be free, live a life of significance, and achieve their dreams.

Contrary to the scenes on your television or in your neighborhoods, contrary to what the media would want you to believe, and contrary to what some closet to you are believing, you can, in this country, dream big. You n set big huge audacious goals and achieve them. In America you can still dream big and live out your dreams. Don’t let those who wont do it poison your mind set. Don’t let those in the media dictate your mindset and indoctrinate you to believe that you are a victim who’s life is at the mercy of others. The media is not your friend, most have an agenda and most are in the business of hype and division to make money at what ever means necessary. Don’t be used.

In this country if have a dream and you put a plan together and you work that plan you can live out your dream, everyone. If you make consistent effort daily towards achieving your goals, the compound effect of your actions can only lead to success. If you focus on your continuous self improvement and personal development building your knowledge and personal skills you will function better in business and personal environments. If you move away from negative influences, those who say you cant, those who believe their destiny lies in the hands of others, those who skirt whats right or the law and toward others who say you can and I will, you will propel yourself forward. They say you are the sum total of the five people you spend the most time with, look around.

Don’t be played, don’t be used by those who have an agenda. An agenda that does not have your best interest at heart. The truth is, the number of people out their with the ability to control your future, derail your dreams, or have disdain for you is so minute that its insignificant. They cant impact you destiny unless you let them. Yes there are travesties of injustice and grotesque wrongs. The good thing I see is that overwhelmingly we all agreed that this particular instance was wrong and demanded action. It shows we are closer than what divides us.

You focus on you, you devise the plan, you work your plan every day. You’ll find that most people fall within three camps, some don’t think anything about you, they are living their lives and trying to get by. The second are those you make insecure because your positive action calls their inability or unwillingness to take action on their own behalf into question, obviously those are folks you don’t want to be around anyway. And third are those who know what it means to chase their goals, they are happy for you, they are pulling for you, they want you to succeed. These are the folks you need to find and surround yourself with. They are out there, find them.

Step away from the TV, put your face in a book, put your plan together, and create a life of significance.

Three ways to come out of the Coronavirus pandemic stronger.

Three ways to come out of the coronavirus pandemic stronger. You have to find a way to make it through this pandemic, not just make it through but come out better than before. These are tough trying times for us all, if you’ve lost your job, lost income its even tougher. its sucks but its going to suck even more, its going to get worse before its gets better.
The decisons you make, the actions you take, right now, will determine where you stand six months from now, a year from now, three years from now.

Your future is in your hands
Your future is in your hands, take ownership

Do you want to fetal up on the couch and cry victim or do you want to man up or women up and get going? Are you going to hold yourself accountable for your well being, your families well being? You can’t wait for someone else, the government to solve all your problems. The government or no one else for that matter is going to look out for you, and care for you and your family like you can.

Thats the negative, the tough medicine, now for the opporunity. I believe while its going to get worse before it gets better there will be great opportunity coming out of the coronavirus pandemic. There will great opprotunit for new careers and businesses. The time is now to position yourself for a better job, career, or to start a business.

Now is the time but first you’ve got to stop the bleeding. If you’ve lost your job and your income as been shut off or reduced you have to make some moves.

Stop the Bleeding


Sell what you can, now is not the time to wait for top dollar. Its time for survival of the smartest. We have no idea how long the virus is going to hang out but one thing I can tell you, the financial impact is here to stay for a while. Get rid of what ever liabilities you can.

Generate cash flow


Get cash coming in. Find a way to generate income, go find a job, they are out there. I spoke to a VP of a Site Contracting Company today and he told me something that shocked me, considering 20 million people were put out of work over the last six weeks, not one person has called or walked through his door asking to fill out an application. Im blown away by that. The job you dream of or a job in your line of work may not be available but its time to grind. What is it you did at your job? Couldyou perform that service for folks directly and charge a fee? Start a lawn mowing business, what ever, get creative. Its time to fight and claw to feed yourself and your family.
There are opportunities out there but you have to go get after it. There is the unemployemnt route. Im typically not and unemployment guy. My view is that the only reason you should be unemployed is by your choosing and you can support yourself or you have your own company and you are’nt an employee. Having said that these are unprecedented times. Almost everyone put out of work now are in this position due to no fault of their own. If you do seek and get unemployemnt you must obligate yourself to number three below.

Make yourself more valuable


Use this time to make yourself better. Learn new skills and knowledge to make yourself more valuable. Jim Rohn used to say “you are paid for the value you bring to the market place”. Many think just showing up is the value. Make yourself more valuable, read personal development books. read industry literature and product literature, take online classes or courses. Make yourself the expert of your industry. Get a credential in your industry. This is the time to get better and make yourself more valuable. If your on unemployment you must demand of yourself this requirement as a condition for accepting the payment. If you’ve ever thought of starting a business, put the plan together now, set some goals, big goals, take massive action now. Start a home based busness. Even if you go back to a job keep working that side hustle. You must have more than one stream of income. Wakeup early, do not sleep in. Get yursself cleaned up and pull yourself up to the desk at home or beat the streets, and get after it.

If you’ll do these things you will not only have self respect but you will put yourself in a better position to succeed and come out of this Coronavirus pandemic stronger menatlly and financially.

Construction Field leader master mind group

Note: This concept works for anyone in a line of work.

Where do you go when you need to bounce ideas off someone? Have a question about a product or detail? How to deal with a difficult team member or owner? Wouldn’t it be nice to discuss your field issues with others who are in the trenches just like you? Guys who work for other companies with different cultures and experiences. Check your ego and form a Construction field Leader Master Mind group.
Why not build a team of 4 to 5 trusted allies that each of you can count on, can help each other solve problems and issues your having on the job?

A construction Field leader master mind group. Here are just a few benefits;

Build your mastermind group for problem solving, ideas, success

• Don’t understand a detail, material installation, contract clause, or any issue, wouldn’t it be nice to have trusted partners you can run some questions by? Each of you have different experiences and back grounds, chances are someone in your group has the answer. Maybe next time its your experience that solves an issue for someone else.
• Different companies have different cultures, policies, and procedures, maybe you could benefit from incorporating different means and methods from other companies.
• Having trouble with a difficult subcontractor, Owner, or your project manager? Someone in your group has probably been in a similar situation.
• Having a trusted team outside your company can be valuable in just knowing you can ask any questions or seek an opinion without judgement. Remember inside companies there can be a lot of competition and judgement. Your trusted mastermind group isn’t going to be talking with your coworkers and or management about you.

Check your ego

Be like Albert, check your ego and build your knowledge.

I’ve been in the industry for a while and I have spent a lot of time in the field, there can be a lot of egos out there. Some guys like to think they know it all and don’t need help from anyone. Bullshit! There’s a lot of huff and puff out there, beating on your chest. I think that’s typically a lame smoke screen, so no body dares find out you don’t know something.
If your confident in who you are, what you represent, and understand that we can all learn something from everyone, this concept won’t be a threat to your ego. If you want to be your best, the best, you know that you’ve got to continually be learning and improving.
Why not take advantage of your very own Construction Mastermind group and multiply your experience and knowledge.

You are the Leader on your project, take ownership

You are the Leader on your project, take ownership

You are the Superintendent on the project, the leader, take ownership. Treat the project like it was your building you were going to live in. If you are a Trade Partner (Subcontractor) this goes for you as well. You take ownership of your scope and your responsibility as a team member. (This concept works for anyone on any type of project)

LEAD YOUR TEAM

Your team members will learn quickly if you are committed or not, you set the tone and expectations for the project. If you aren’t all in it will show and product, schedule, and budget will suffer.
You have got to also display leadership and people skills. I suggest you invest some of your personal time with personal development, reading, learning, taking classes and courses. If you want to be good or the best you must know how to influence others and get the team to buy in. The days of barking out orders and getting something done are long gone. Besides no-one wants to hear that, it doesn’t work.

You want to take ownership you’ve got to;

• Know the project better than anyone else. Dig through the details, notes, and submittals.

• Know your schedule, your mile stones, your completion date. Knowing the completion date seems
obvious but you would be surprised how many times when I’ve asked a Superintendent the
question, when is your completion date and the answer is, I don’t know or I’m not sure.

• Be a problem solver, certainly don’t be afraid to ask others for their thoughts and opinions
but don’t be afraid also to think outside the box to come up with solutions.

• Be the first to arrive and the last to leave. We all know that this job requires a lot of
hours, but you are the leader. If you have an assistant, you can share the responsibility of
locking up the site in the evening but always be there first. Having your subcontractors open
the site and lock the site on a consistent bases shows a lack of ownership.

• Don’t be a trailer Superintendent, you know what I mean, the guy who no-one ever sees the
walking the site, he never leaves the trailer or is always sitting in his truck. The guys in
the field notice that, if you are that guy, they are joking you.

• When walking the site don’t just be out for a walk, look for problems, look for thing that
just don’t seem right. If something doesn’t look right it probably isn’t. Identify issues as
early as you can so they can be addressed and correct as early as possible. The longer you
wait, the more costly they are in time and money.

• Have the ability to hold your own Subcontractor progress meetings, treat all Trade Partners
respectfully. again, know your schedule, the problems needing resolution, and the details.
This seems obvious but for many years I had to go to job sites once a week to hold the
Subcontractor progress meetings. As a result, the Subcontractors looked to me as the leader,
not the Superintendent.

Follow Through

Hand writing inscription It starts with You with marker, concept

These are just a few ideas you can and should implement to take ownership and be the leader of your project. If you want the be the best Superintendent, this is where you start. When you take ownership it is hard work but the rewards that come with it, respect, stature, accolades, and compensation are worth it.