Tag: #leadership

The Five Principles to help you step away from average and unleash your inner greatness. Principle number Three

There are 5 principles that I believe are critical if you are going to step away from accepting an average existences and unleash your inner greatness. You must learn them and live them. I’ll be sharing each of the five in a series over the next few weeks. Over the last two weeks we covered the first two, as a reminder they are;

1. You are responsible for everything in your life, everything.
2. Continuous learning and personal development are essential in living your life to the fullest.

Principle number three

Action drives change and results


Nothing happens without action. They say knowledge is power but I disagree, knowledge is stored power. knowledge only becomes power when it is applied through action.

Everyone has hopes and dreams, everyone want a fit body, they want money and wealth, well why doesn’t everyone have these things? Why don’t people who say they have dreams and goals achieve those goals and make their dreams a reality? I say the biggest reason is that most people wont take the actions required on a consistent basis. The issue is not in the knowing what to do, but actually doing what you know needs to be done. Everyone knows that if you want a fit healthy body you must eat right and exercise, yet most will not commit to this on a long term consistent basis. Its no different with every other area of your life.

Action drive all change, results, achievement. The problem is not in the knowing what to do, but actually doing what we know needs to be done.

You must accept principle number one understanding you are responsible for your results. you must adhere to principle number two by continually learning and growing your knowledge base, but without action, nothing happens, nothing changes, dreams die.

Often the reason we don’t commit to taking the action required is because we look at the goal or dream as a whole and it seems too daunting so we procrastinate. The pain in the discipline it takes to do the work seems like its to much to handle, especially when sitting on the couch and watching just one more episode of what ever show you are into is much easier. Keep this in mind while you sit there, the actors in that show are pursing their goals and dreams while you are sitting on the couch as time keeps marching on and you are falling further behind. Every day you don’t start is another day you are behind.

We often over estimate what we can do in a day and underestimate what they can do in a year. Breakdown your goals into small components and milestones and then commit to daily action in achieving the smaller components of the bigger goal. I hear a lot about having to take massive action, I think this sets many up for failure. What if you took small “bite” size actions every day, first for a week, then and month? Soon you start developing the habit of taking action every day, what would you look like a year from today if you developed the daily action habit? If you are thinking, a year out is to far out to try and conceive, ask your self this question, if I don’t start now and take consistent action, will I ever be, do, or achieve what I want in life?

You must be intentional about what you want out of your life, Intention means an act or instance of determining mentally upon some action or result. Be intentional about taking those small actionable steps every day, the compound effect of those small steps will carry you to the realization of you dreams.

Knowledge is the fuel, action is the engine. Get your motor running.

Life Lessons we can Learn from the Super Bowl Champions

What life lessons can you learn from the Super Bowl Champions?

I believe there are strong lessons to learn from every player on that field last night.

Obviously Tom Brady is getting a lot of the attention and rightly so, he deserves it But every player on that field can teach us all a lesson, a lesson that if we applied to our lives, our goals and dreams would radically change our destiny.

Super Bowl Champion Tom Brady
TAMPA, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 07: Tom Brady #12 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrates with the Lombardi Trophy after defeating the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium on February 07, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers defeated the Chiefs 31-9. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Every player on that field had a dream since they were little kids playing Pop Warner football to play in the NFL and to play in a Super Bowl. Yes, every player was born with athletics ability and potential. But so were tens of thousands of others who never made it to the highest level, What’s sets these players out above the others?

The players on the field last night relentlessly pursued and stretched the limits of their potential their entire lives for this moment.

Since they were little boys they had the dream and they committed do doing what ever it took to get there. Yes we see all the money, the life style, the fame and we think somehow it was easier for them. False.

These players worked every day of there lives up to this moment to push every ounce of talent out of their bodies. They pushed through the pain, through injuries, through setbacks, and they never quit.

That is the difference, they never quit. every step of the journey they worked harder, studied more, trained more. When others were taking off, playing video games, giving limited effort in practice, they were working, giving everything.

What if you applied this discipline to your goals and dreams? What kind of exponential growth in your life would you see in a year, three years, and decade? You could achieve any goal you set your mind to. You could create the life you dream of.

I challenge you to commit to relentlessly pursuing the limits of your potential. Its your responsibility, your duty.

Don’t be lazy with your potential.

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.

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.

You are in control, dont let anyone derail your dream. 3 Tips to achievment

You are in control, dont let anyone derail your dream. Just wanted to send out a reminder that where ever you are in your life, financially, job, career, business, or relationship, whatever, it does mean you have to stay there. Its a fact that we are all where we are because of the decisions we have made and the actions we either have taken or not taken. But the truth is, those past decisions do not have to dictate your future.

You have the ability to choose the future you want right now. Once you decide what your goals and dreams are you have started the process of changing and shaping the future you want. However, this is the easy part.

The key to making any change and achieving any goal requires action. This is where people stumble and fail. Everyone wants the money but are’nt willing to commit to what it takes. Everybody wants the fit and attractive body but manny are’nt willing to put the work in, to sacrifice. You can achieve your goals and dreams but you must be willing to work and sacrifice. Nothing great comes easy.

Commit goals to paper


Once you decide what it is you really want to accomplish or what you really want to become you must commit it to paper. I know we all have high tech devises but Im telling you to pick up a pen and a sheet of paper and write your goals out. Right out exactly what it is you want to achieve or become. Detail what your plan is and the effort you will put in to achieve your goal. Review those goals every morning and every evening. Hold yourself accountable. For a time tested method for setting and achieving your goals and dreams I highly suggest you read “think and grow rich” by Napolian Hill.

Commit to massive action


Commit to taking consistent massive action. We get fired up starting off while we are all excited about our new goals that will deliver the life we dream of. Once we experience a little friction and that excitement wears down, it gets a little tougher to keep putting out that effort. It can get diffuicult pushing forward without seeing results or at least the results we think we should be seeing. Keep in mind that results follow momentum, keep pushing, cosnsistent effort is always rewarded. The reason why most fail is because they fail to accurately consider the work required to accomplish their goals. Understand up front that what ever your first thoughts are on what action is required, double it, tripple it. Doing this you start to find out if you are actually committed. Grant Cardone author of “The 10X rule” says that what ever goals you have, what ever effort you think it will take multiply that by ten. Its actually a great mindset, I agree with Cardone that we think to small, we must think much bigger and set our goals higher. We set our goals to low and hit them, we should be setting our goals so high it stretches the limits of our potential.

Prepare for the cynics


Prepare yourself for the naysayer, the critics, cynics, and detractors. There will always be naysayers and critics, people who will always find the negative in everything and everyone. When you start stepping out of your comfort zone, you’ll be putting your self out there for the world to see. You are going to be vulnerable, again, here is where you find out how committed you are. Some will criticize and try to ridicule, they do this mainly because you are a threat. You by your actions are challenging them to question their own abilities and commiment to pursuing their own potential, some cant handle this. Rather than re-evaluate themselves they feel better criticizing you. You must get your friends and family on board also, share with them what your trying to accomplish and the effort it will take. You’ll need them to understand that you must block out the time required to acieve your dreams, Its in their best interest as well. Make sure you commit special time for them as well. You need them on your side, on your team.

Where ever you come from, lower financial background or status, High school drop out, over weight, what ever it is doesnt matter. What matters now is that you have decided now to make a change,set goals, and chase your dream. Whatever they may be, you want to achieve financial freedom, you are going to become a Senior Poject Manager, or you are going to get in the best shape of your life; whatever you dream of it can become real. You are in control, dont let anyone derails your dream.

Unemployed by the Coronavirus Pandemic? Take these actions

Unemployed by the Coronavirus pandemic? Over 20 million Americans have been put out of work in the last 6 weeks or so. Unfortunatly the lay offs may continue and we don’t know when this virus will be under control and we can start going back to work. The question is this, how are YOU going to get through this? What actions are you going to take to make yourself more valuable in the marketplace?

How you use your time right now will deterime how you land and how quickly you recover. When the economic engine gets started back up and businesses start hiring, theres likley to be a staggard opening and staggard hiring. This will result in heavy competition as the positions become available. How will you differenciate yourself from the masses?

There will be many who have the “pandemic” gap in their resume, what if you are the only one who shows the potential employer how proactive and productive you’ve been throughout the shutdown? Others will be able to explain exactly what the Tiger King is all about, you’ll be able to show that you are a committed self starter who is driven, autonomous, and hard working.

What if at the top of your resume you listed what you worked on, studied, and accomplished while you were Coronavirus unemployed, here are a few examples;

You owe yourself all you got

Industry specific skill


Honed your computer skills, mcirosoft office skills, project managemet skills, Sales skills, etc. What ever industry you are in, there are task required, pick just one that would make the biggest impact and study it, practice it, perfect it.

Study Industry literature and product data


Become the expert, the go to person in your industry. What ever products, equipment, or material you work with or sell reseacrh it in depth. Go to manufacturers websites and study the specifications, installation instructions, care and maintenance, etc. Chef, cook, or waitress? learn new recipes, restaurant data analytics, study food alergies to better understand your customers as an example.

Read Personal development books


Yes, list a couple a books you read to improve your soft skills, your people skills. In many industries it is those who have the best soft skills that excel. There are many good books out there on the subject but these two are the must reads; The 7 Habits of highly effective people, Steven Covey. How to win Freinds and Influence People, Dale Carnegie

Earn an industry credential

Listing your industry certifications could tip the scales in your favor. It is posible to work in many industries without a credential but earning a credentail lends more credibility to your resume. Earn that Journeymens license, food handlers certification, vendors license, computer certifications, etc.

These are just a few examples. You know your work, what is needed in your industry, take action now for your self improvement. No on is going to come to you, you must take action and make it happen. Pick out what would make the most impact, maybe an area you need to sure up, and pour yourself into it. Put yourself in the best position to succeed on the other side of this pandemic.

The Choice Between pain and Pleasure, it’s what determines your success.

We all have a choice but do we have the courage to make the right choice. The choice between pain and pleasure determines your success. The successful, the achievers, they understand this truth;

The Pain of regret is much worse than the pain of discipline

We all face fear, fear of failure, fear of ridicule, or fear of rejection. Whats holding you back from your goals and dreams? Fear typically manifest itself in procratsination, self doubt, and negetive self talk, you know that voice in your head.

We all have big goals and dreams, in fact I confidently believe Like Les Brown who often says, We ALL have greatness within us. Sadly though, most of us never achieve our greatest desires, in fact most settle for a life of medeocrity, never even start the pursuit of the life we dream of. Why is this?

Our pursuits and our decisions are drivin by pain and pleasure, Its how we are wired. We subconciously make a choice between pain and pleasure. Obviously we fear pain, the pain of rejection. The fear of stepping out in front of the world and failing, scared of what our friends and loved ones might think. We fear ridicule and judgement. Funny how those who are most judgemental are the ones that would never risk attempting anything great themsleves so your attempt scares them. It makes them feel threatended or exposed as weak because they havent the courage to face ther fears, yet I digress.

Pleasure is a much easier pursuit but its not alawys the best choice. Instant graditification is often the root of destroyed relationships. It is for many the reason we are over weight and unhealthy. its in large part why many struggle financially. It is the easy way out with regard to the decision making process, this is why as a society so many seek instant gradification yet to our own detriment.

The most successful, the achievers, they understand putting off instant gradification for long term success and happiness. Folks that are healthy and fit put in the time to excercise and are disciplene to eat healthy. Those that are financially fit set their budget and are disciplened in their spending and their saving. It is not by magic or for most that they were born with a silver spoon.

High achievers use their time wisely and intentionally, here are just three examples of what successful wealthy people do to help face and overcome their fears. They set themsleves up for success so they wont feel the pain of regret. These are just a few exapmples from Thomas Corley’s study of wealthy folks.

80% of the wealthy are focused on accomplishing some single goal. Only 12% of the poor do this.

Succesful people more easily face their fears when they have a clear vision of what they want. They have a clear writtin plan, a blueprint for achieving the goal. They understand their why behind the goal, and their why and their desire is greater than their fears.

6% of the wealthy watch reality TV vs. 78% of poor.

Achievers dont just sit on the side lines of life and watch others chase their dreams, or in some cases in reality TV destroy their lives. They intensionally and activly pursue their dreams.

86% of the wealthy believe in lifelong educational self-improvement vs. 5% of poor.

Those who understand that to chase your dreams and to face fear you have to embrace personal development, living your best life is about improving yourself everyday. Jim Rohn always said, “work harder on yourself than you do on your job”.

With regard to these statistics it is Understand that wealth is not necessarilly THE determining factor for success and happines. Having said that there obvioulsy is a clear correlation between success, achievement, happiness and wealth. Success is a reslult of smart habbits. If you will embrace just these three habits you too can pursue your goals with more courage to face your fears.

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.