“Positions are temporary.  Ranks and titles are limited.  But the way you treat people will always be remembered.”  Linkedin quote

“Beauty is a measure of our inner state.  It is more about what we carry inside rather than how we look.  Compassion, humility, and authentic living make us appear beautiful.  Beauty is also about how we handle the fluctuations of life with maturity and patience.  Beauty is about living with dignity and self respect.”  Rabb Jyot

“A man asked his gardener why his plants grew so beautifully.  The gardener said:  ‘I don’t force them to grow, I remove what stops them.’  The gardener’s approach is not about pressure or force; it’s about creating the right conditions (sunlight, space, nutrients) and letting nature do what it’s designed to do:  grow beautifully. Whether you’re leading a team, building a brand, or developing yourself, maybe it’s time to stop forcing growth.  Instead, ask:  What do I need to remove?  What’s standing in the way of my people or myself when it comes to thriving?  Growth is not about pushing harder; it’s about clearing the way.”

Writers and Author’s quote from Linkedin

I am new to this Linkedin thing (where have I been all these years?) and I have not quite mastered how to use it productively but I do love to scroll through different feeds and see what others are thinking and writing.  If you take the time and follow the right companies and the right people, there is inspiration to be found.  I follow this “Writers and Authors” group as they have 79 gazillion followers so it just felt good to jump into their mix and make myself known.  Surely there is room for one more writer and author and maybe, just maybe, a well placed comment will hurry my rise to stardom as a self-publishing author.  That has yet to happen but it is still early.  I do find they have tons of inspiring quotes and thoughts to share so, if nothing else comes of this, I can at least steal a few quotes to pass on to my friends.  

I love the concept of removing obstacles rather than continuing to add things to your plate to promote growth.  Sometimes we just have to sit back and ponder what is holding us back from reaching the top of the mountain.  Should we drop a backpack or two, change boots, or do we just continue to add new gadgets, increasing the weight on our shoulders, adding new thoughts on top of old ones, mixing in the new with the old?  Or do we shed some weight, change jackets, get a different rope, maybe try the other side of the mountain for a while?  Oftentimes, less is more but it is a hard business concept to embrace.  It seems our society stresses the need for more, more, more.

I was thinking of this gardener’s quote when I read a separate post by John Comack, owner of some construction firm in New York.  I am not quite sure why John is playing in our arena but I did like his piece and felt it tied into this shedding of weight concept.  John starts his piece as follows:

“Every contractor thinks they’re competing on quality and service.  But most clients can’t tell the difference between good work and great work until years after the project’s done.  What they notice immediately is whether you show up when you say you will, whether you return their calls and whether you do what you promised without making excuses.”

I could have stopped reading right there, I was sold.  John continues after talking about many of the very common mis-management traits of contractors…“none of that is about the quality of the actual construction.  It’s about whether you’re organized and reliable enough to do business with.  You could lose jobs to contractors who do mediocre work but answer their phone.  Do you want a competitive advantage in construction?  Just do what you say you’re going to do, when you say you’re going to do it, and communicate clearly when things change.  Sounds simple.  Apparently it’s not, because most of the industry still hasn’t figured it out.”

Certainly, we all have to perform.  That is a given.  But those that perform on time, consistently, and have operating systems set up that respond to the many requests for information from the owner, the subcontractors, the workers, with respect, courtesy,  professionalism, and with timeliness and knowledge—well, those are the GCs that rise to the top and are called back when expansion time comes around.

John ends his piece by reminding us all that “that’s the opportunity.  Not doing miraculous work.  Just being consistently reliable in an industry where that’s become rare.”

My comment back to John was that I was a big believer in effective communication but possibly there have been changes in our industry that is not allowing everyone to be singing love songs at the end of every work day.  I feel our industry has allowed owners to pour a bucket of cold water over friendliness, professionalism, dignity, courtesy and responsiveness.  When one cannot get paid for work performed within an acceptable period of time, dignity and professionalism get tossed out the window.  When we ask our trade contractors and their trade contractors to invest their entire life savings, max out every credit card they have, mortgage their homes to the hilt, before they are reimbursed for their costs on a major project, it is awfully hard for everyone to stay calm, cool, collected, and jump to the phone or computer to answer every request.

As the first LinkedIn post above tells us, let’s remove the obstacles to growth and success and allow all on our team to work and grow beautifully.

Effective communication and timely project payments—the secrets to a successful commercial construction project.  It is not all that complicated.

Have a great week everyone.  Thanksgiving is around the corner.  There is still plenty of room to participate in my ALDI gift card program.  Thus far I have distributed 20 cards of $100 value to some good families and plan to purchase 20 more cards this week.  My hope is to distribute 75 cards by Christmas day.  I need some help to make that goal.  You can donate anyone of the following ways:

Venmo to @ Ron-PEOPLE

PayPal to rjdjyou@gmail.com

Mail to PEOPLE, 646 Warrenton Drive, 63122

“Positions are temporary.  Ranks and titles are limited.  But the way you treat people will always be remembered.” 

WBEDC

Ron