INTRODUCTION

This is a book about the MVPs in the commercial construction industry. Not the most valuable companies, the most valuable people. It’s about how the MVPs think, what they know, what they focus on, and, most importantly, what they do. You’ll also find a little bit of what they talk about behind closed doors and some of what doesn’t get talked about at all.

I wrote this book because it’s the book I wish I’d had throughout my own career—with all the stuff they cannot teach you in college and the golden nuggets that many top-performers are either unable to articulate or unwilling to share. Access to a book like that would’ve opened my eyes to important concepts sooner and made some of my difficult career choices easier. So after years of respected colleagues encouraging me to step up and write that book, I decided to take on the challenge and pave an easier way for others.

In this book, you’ll find some of the theories and strategies I’ve developed over the past twenty-five years of working for general contractors, project owners, and construction technology companies—and many insights gleaned from others with exceptionally fast-track careers and impressive compensation packages. You could say that I’ve been respectfully spying for a long, long time on highly successful construction executives who are looking back at their colleagues and competitors in the rear view mirror. In short, this book contains seven ways to go further and faster and make a lot more money than the guy sitting next to you . . . or the guy down the street.

As I speak around the country on the strategies included in this book, I’m often asked to describe each chapter in a nutshell, to sum up the most important messages in a sentence or two. That’s never easy, but here goes.

Chapter 1: WHAT ELSE YOU GOT?
The opening chapter will shock a few people. It’s a serious heads up on the commoditization of the industry—including all of us who work in it—and how the MVPs are winning the differentiation game.

Chapter 2: THE TRAILER AIN’T THE FIELD
Chapter two is all about defining actual field experience—what it is and what it isn’t. It also gives you a sneak peek into some of what the MVPs take away from their time in the field, and the real reason why paying your dues out there is drop-dead essential to your career.

Chapter 3: GET YOUR OWN JERRY MAGUIRE
This strategy takes an entertaining and enlightening look at the similarities between sports agents and executive search professionals, and explains how the MVPs create leverage in the marketplace with a sometimes controversial, but highly effective, silver bullet.

Chapter 4: BEWARE OF THE PROJECT MANAGER MYTH
The project manager myth is intended to be an eye-opener for commercial construction professionals charging down the project management path. It explores the price you may end up paying for it, and why so many of the MVPs choose to leap frog right over it.

Chapter 5: BE THE “I” IN TEAM
This one may seem like a politically incorrect philosophy on teamwork, but it’s really about how the MVPs earn the respect and admiration of their teammates and command their rightful place in the spotlight.

Chapter 6: PEOPLE ARE NOT SHOP DRAWINGS
Chapter six offers a compelling theory to explain why we all have a little voice inside our heads—I call mine Pistol Pete—that get us into trouble. You’ll learn how and why the MVPs are ignoring him all the way to the top.

Chapter 7: RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT
The final chapter illuminates why lasting success in construction management no longer stems from excellence in construction management skills and reveals the most sought-after ingredient in the MVPs’ secret sauce.

Some say my ideas are provocative and a little hyper-progressive. I certainly hope so. I despise small talk and baby steps. Each one of these chapters is intended to make you think about our industry in a radically different way; however, I don’t expect everyone to agree with me on everything. That’s neither likely nor the real point.

What I do hope is that you’ll put your own stamp on what you’ve read and do something about it. This book is really about encouraging you to take a long hard look at everything that’s happening around you, and question all of it—even the good stuff—so you can formulate your own theories about how the industry actually works, and then boldly reimagine how it could work. From there you can develop informed strategies to make your own personal dent in the construction universe.

Every successful change agent will tell you that questioning and dissatisfaction with the status quo is not disrespectful; it’s the first step toward reinvention and revolution. Nothing improves when everything is deemed “good enough” to carry on with business as usual. Regardless of your age, experience level, title, or position on your company’s organizational chart, you can use this book to start building the iconic career and life of your dreams—and set an inspiring example for others to follow.

When you finish reading, if you’re looking for some instant gratification or a place to focus your energies first, try going back to chapter six. Of all the strategies, it may contain the lowest-hanging fruit. The behavioral insights are intended to create immediate and high collective gains for all construction professionals, the companies they work for, and the industry as a whole. By shining a light on this epidemic behavior, and giving it a name, we can all stop engaging our Pistol Petes inappropriately, encourage others to do the same, and start a movement.

Truth be told, this book was almost never written or published because of my own Pistol Pete. He can shoot holes in just about everything you’re about to read—and he has. I’ve been dueling with him for years, completely out-gunned most of the time. That’s why we teach what we most need to learn, and those who teach learn the most.

Enjoy it.
Profit from it.
Pay it forward.

Coty

Chapter 1

WHAT ELSE YOU GOT?

Commercial construction professionals who are promoted from operations to business development learn one of the most sobering, yet also empowering, truths about the industry. Unfortunately, very few people get that promotion, so they never learn this truth, or they learn it too late. It goes something like this:

You can take virtually any contractor’s sales materials and presentation content and swap it out with the same from his or her closest direct competitors and no one will know the difference.

What!

Really?

Yes.

No matter how much time and agonizing effort most companies spend on these monumentally important activities, in the end the resulting pitches all sound pretty much identical to the listening ear. Everyone claims to have the same five qualifications floating amidst a sea of well-intended polish and decoration. But when you boil it all down, here’s what left:

We deliver (1) quality construction projects, (2) on time and (3) on budget, and here are some (4) client testimonials from projects similar to yours to prove it. How do we do it? We have the (5) best people.

Some companies use few words that are short and to the point. Some use lots of words, case studies, cool graphics, and other eye-catchers. But for all intents and purposes, the only differences in the sales and marketing messages between one contractor and another are their logos, pictures, color choices, and who can do what with PowerPoint. Each company is essentially saying, “Pick us! Pick us! We’re the best!” while defending that claim in much the same manner as the next company. And so on and so on.

Nobody likes to hear this. It can be deflating and frustrating. Especially if you’ve worked in the business development or marketing arena, and therefore know how hard it is to differentiate your company’s qualifications from your competitors in any believable fashion. But if you accept this truth and work with it, instead of arguing and wishing it weren’t true, you can capitalize on it. The MVPs most certainly do. They use it to help the companies they work for—and fast-track their own careers at the same time.

Exploring the root of this truth in further detail is enlightening. You’ll soon see why it applies directly to you and your career, and how you can use it to your advantage.

Chapter 4

Beware of the project manager myth.

If you want something different than most people, you have to do something different than most people. So unless it’s your ultimate career goal to become a great project manager – meaning that’s your desired end game – beware of the project manager myth. It’s the common notion that excellence in project management skills is the key to advancement in the commercial construction industry.

It’s not true.

Not even close.

Few truly great project managers climb the corporate construction ladder much higher or succeed when they get there. Yet construction management schools teach the subject more than any other and the vast majority of all young construction professionals aspire to see the title of Project Manager on their business card.

If this is you, and you want to be a great project manager, then by all means go out there and have at it. They play a very important role on every project. Our industry relies heavily on them and if you’re one of the best you’ll be rewarded handsomely. Just know that it may be tougher than you think to rise above it – should you ever decide to do so. It’s an eye-opening experience when you break it all down and see what it actually takes to become a great project manager, the potential price you may end up paying for it . . . and why the industry’s MVPs often choose to leap frog right over it.

Chapter 5

Be the ‘I’ in team.

The idea that there is no ‘I’ in team is one of those phrases that sound really good when you say it. It’s certainly politically correct and there’s something about it that feels right, maybe even a little noble, rolling off your tongue. Surely, it’s something a good team leader or team player would say – isn’t it? Surely, it makes your team more likely to win – doesn’t it? Lots of well-wishing people certainly think so and act accordingly.

As if the concept is axiomatic.

But it isn’t.

It’s actually one of those little white lies that are told with good intentions. Most team leaders are comfortable telling it, because most team members are comfortable hearing it – as a promotion of unity and the stereotypical definition of successful teamwork. Unfortunately, the phrase is unintentionally misleading and it sends out the worst possible message, particularly in business and other highly competitive environments. Fortunately, the MVPs in the commercial construction industry do not buy into the message. They are not fooled. They see right through the dangerous implications of this popular phrase, to the underlying truth about successful teams, and they lead by example as highly respected ‘I’ players . . . and they do it with grace and integrity.

Want what they have?

Learn how to BE the ‘I’ in team.

Chapter 6

People are not shop drawings.

When you treat people like a set of shop drawings you destroy your relationship with them, along with any chance you may have of being an effective leader in the commercial construction industry. The same holds true for new ideas; you can’t treat them like a set of shop drawings either. Fail to embrace this strategy and you’ll never reach the executive ranks or make a complete mess when you get there.

Know this for sure:

There’s a time and place to look for everything that is wrong or missing, and there’s a time and place to look for everything that is right and possible.

The MVP’s in our industry learn how to do both, but they excel in the latter because the former is a lousy way to lead. To become the requisite company-focused person identified earlier in Chapter Four, you must pack your bags and follow the yellow-brick road to the magical land of people and ideas. Great construction leaders take up permanent residence there. They become fruitful farmers and protectorates of this land, fostering a place where people and their ideas are free to flourish under watchful eyes that are focused on what is right and possible.

How do they do it?

The transition from project-focused skills and behavior to company-focused skills and behavior requires many things, for which several books could be written; however, keen awareness of the following insight just might be the most critical requirement for the personal success of any leader in the construction industry and the well-being of the company he works for:

You must become aware of your Pistol Pete and why he is no longer your trusted friend.

Chapter 7

Right…right…right…left…right.

If you want to march steadily along in your construction career, keep chanting the familiar “Left…left…left…right…left…” in the back of your mind like most everyone else does, and you’ll do just fine. It works as a good metaphor. Swap out your left foot for your left brain, tow your right brain along for the ride, and you’ll fall in step with the steady cadence led by our industry’s left-brained majority. After all, predominantly left-brained people pursue careers in construction management and enjoy success working in many positions that require heavy-duty left brain power, such as: scrutiny, logic, list-making, scheduling and linear processing, and the organization and analysis of highly detailed information. While performing all of these left brain tasks, the right side of our collective brains can practically take a nap.

It barely gets exercised at all.

The left brain is clearly the industry’s comfort zone and recruiting zone. So if that’s how you’re naturally wired, you’ll find yourself in good company. Assuming you’re good at your job, your contributions will be rewarded with gainful employment and you’ll be accepted into the ranks. After all, many left brain skills are required to manage the construction process.

In short, you’ll fit right in.

But here’s the thing.

If you’re aiming high and aspire to join the MVPs who really run the show, at some point, you’ll have to learn how to switch gears quickly and appropriately, so you can tap more frequently into the power of your right brain. It’s arguably much more valuable for your career. If you’re atypical for the industry and naturally right-brain dominant or double dominant – which means you’re very strong in both hemispheres – then switching back and forth will come easily and you’ll enjoy finding the unexpected company of others who think more like you do. If not, you better take your right brain to the gym and muscle up because the MVPs are chanting “Right…right…right…left…right..” all the way to the top.