Illegitimi non carborundum is a mock-Latin aphorism, often translated as “Don’t let the bastards grind you down”. The phrase itself has no meaning in Latin and can only be mock-translated as a Latin–English pun.

In honor of April Fools Day I give you this phrase that originated during World War Two. It is attributed to British army intelligence very early in the war (using the dative plural illegitimis)!

The phrase was adopted by US Army General “Vinegar” Joe Stilwell as his motto during the war, in the form Illegitimati non carborundum. It was later further popularized in the US by 1964 presidential candidate Barry Goldwater – somehow I don’t see that phrase being correct these days.

Now some real Latin for you

Vincit qui se vincit.

He conquers who conquers himself.

Stay Thirsty!

I AM a CSP. I am NOT THAT CSP….sorry for the confusion.

Specializing in leadership in construction I run into many CSPs who are impressed that I have a CSP. And when given the chance to clarify. I do….like now.

My CSP is the Certified Speaking Professional. The other CSP in this conversation is the Certified Safety Professional. Like most professional designations these both say we are expert in our craft and work to get better every year as we maintain the certification.

A bit about my CSP. The CSP™ (Certified Speaking Professional) designation is conferred by the National Speakers Association® (NSA). The CSP designation is the speaking profession’s highest earned international measure of professional platform competence.

Less than 12 percent of the 5,000+ speakers worldwide, who belong to the 14 member associations of the Global Speakers Federation (GSF), currently hold this professional designation.

The CSP designation is earned by mastering the four professional competencies adopted by the NSA Board of Directors:
Eloquence, Expertise, Enterprise, Ethics
.
So, there you have it. I am also a CMC (Certified Management Consultant) but we can cover that a different time. If you are interested in having a CSP specializing in leadership in construction speak to your team, just reach out..

Every year we read headlines from Gallup research screaming that employees are disengaged. We are told 70% are watching the clock. Work is a miserable

And every year it really makes me wonder. The places I go, the construction clients who invite me in to help them with leadership and culture don’t seem like such negative places. So, I did my own survey.

Clearly I don’t have the reach that Gallup has but nearly 500 construction professionals responded to our People In Construction Survey and they told us that 70% of them ARE ENGAGED – NOT disengaged! Wooo hoooo..maybe it isn’t so bad….or maybe it is a skew in my respondents who are interested in leadership. I don’t know but what I do know is you should not fall for the Gallup data and surrender.

You can learn, invest, engage and make your place a top place to work.

I like the Gallup Cascade Effect, which they define as, “employees’ engagement is directly influenced by their managers’ engagement — whose engagement is directly influenced by their managers’ engagement.” So, if you don’t like what you see in your employees you need to look in the mirror.

If you want to learn more about, send me a message. You are not doomed.

Is working in construction really that bad? Is everyone disengaged?

We asked 500 construction pros about culture in construction and were particularly interested in the generations at work issue. This finding may surprise you!

Here is the breakdown of those replying. 54% were Gen X, 33% were Boomers and 10% were Millennials. I am sure you boldly assume the differences will be great but you are mistaken. OVERALL, engagement and happiness was consistent within statistical norms. In other words, young and old, the people responding generally like what they do and who they do it with.
Younger were less likely to have a close friend at work but that makes sense as they are newer to a place. Everyone stated that ignoring the values will get you in trouble and the majority says they trust leadership

SO, the smoking gun on age wasn’t there. The real gap. There was far greater variability between field and office then young and old.

Universally, people want to be treated with respect, kept in the loop and not work for a jerk!

Makes sense, of course, but that doesn’t mean it happens everywhere. Firms that figure this out will be more successful.

Once upon a time someone was in charge. Their title might be King or something along those lines. When you displeased the king, he had you executed.

Later Kings were replaced by dictators. Similar results should you not toe the line.

Then, somewhere along the way things began to change…we moved from this authoritative style to a more participative style. Instead of the leader telling you what to think, they might ask for your opinion. The concept of servant leader evolved in business and all of a sudden the leader wasn’t executing anyone, they were asking about how to better execute the plan.

Yikes. this was a big change and some of you know exactly what I am talking about and are longing for the good old days when you told me to jump and I said how high!

Yah. sorry the good old days are gone. long gone….and nowhere in here did I say anything about being nice. I am saying you need not be a jerk.

So. there you have it. A history of leadership in one minute. And all you have to know is we are in a time when participative leadership is the game. Learn the rules. If you want a rule book send me a message

Here is a useless piece of self-help schlock I read the other day.
To be more optimistic just choose to be more positive. WTF. I want to throw up when I read that.

Oh, ok and to be more rich I should just choose to make more money…and to be in better shape I should just choose to eat better. And to be better golfer I should score better. This simplistic drivel ticks me off. Tell someone to do something but don’t tell them how to do it.

I am not knocking optimism. Very important. Even more so for leaders during the pandemic. However, the lack of real insight and coaching is a pandemic in itself these days. I heard there are 7mm life coaches on LI, up from 2mm one year ago. While I am sure many might be pretty good at what they do I am guessing the vast majority have no freaking clue. I would be skeptical about a fitness trainer who is overweight.

Just sayin. Willpower ain’t the answer to all your troubles. In fact, that mentality of choose to be stronger and life gets better causes more harm than good.

There are specific things you can do it improve your outlook, I can tell you a bunch of them. You can google even more but you also need to understand your history, habits, and hopes to have a better chance of it.

To get the shot or not to get the shot…for many it isn’t even a consideration. But for construction workers…well……

Construction workers are among the least likely employees to say they would get a COVID-19 vaccine if one were offered to them, underlining the challenges contractors face getting their workforces inoculated.

While willingness ranges as high as 77% for workers in higher education, just 53% of construction workers said they’d willingly roll up their sleeves for the shot. That put the group fourth from the bottom in industry rankings, ahead of just retail, transportation and food and beverage workers. Great company there…

A few things come to mind here
1) Does your company have any policy or expectation in this area?
2) What is your leadership team going to do to educate, inspire, and encourage the shot – if that is the way you feel it should go?
3) If you don’t think the shot is the way to go. That is your choice but you might consider that construction workers had higher rates of excess mortality during the pandemic.

If safety is the number one priority….how will you handle this?

FACE TO FACE WITH PEOPLE all week and more to come. The pace of business is picking up! Will you be ready?

Sunday drove 5 hours from Raleigh to the Outer Banks for an intense two-day planning meeting with 7 member leadership team of a $100mm GC.

Tuesday night – drove 6 hours to Rocky Mount, VA to deliver the 5th session of 7 in our front line leadership skills program for a $50mm Concrete contractor on Wednesday

Wednesday night – drove 4 hours to Williamsburg for executive coaching on Thursday for an exec in a $2bb infrastructure company.

Thursday – drove home…coaching call with an exec for a $1bb electrical contractor and confirmed a LIVE 2-day communications class for a $400mm GC.

Friday face to face coaching for a PM in a $125mm dirt contractor in Raleigh.

3 totally different types of work (facilitation, speaking, coaching) for 6 very different contractors.

The common thread is it all involves people in construction because nothing builds itself. I Love what I do and appreciate the opportunity to do it…(OK, I hated the driving but flying wasn’t a good option).

Want to talk people in construction? Send me a DM.

If you are thinking about scheduling speaking, coaching, consulting, get it on the calendar. Whoever you use might be too busy to support you.

Sam Sease, President at JRC Mechanical, a top contractor to work for, relates the gap they discovered in communication as a primary point of emphasis to maintain their culture as a top place to work.

The field office chasm was bigger than they realized as the business has grown significantly in 5 years. When asked why that matters, his answer was simple. We don’t advertise much for people, they find us. A good culture attracts people.

From a newsletter focusing on people to a better use of technology, JRC continues to work to be a great place to work.

People are the best profit strategy as happy team members delight customers which ultimately improves the bottom line.

If you want a place where people come to you, contact me for a conversation on how to get there.

If you haven’t heard of Gary Anderson, that is OK. He has had some success as a college football coach but not enough to stand out for the wins. He has more losses than wins but he also took on some real loser programs and turned them around.

What is remarkable? He never took the money and ran. He refused to be paid the balance of his contract more than once. Most recently he was fired at Utah State. Ow,ed three years at $900,000 per year, he said keep it. Who does THAT?

Texas was on the hook for $15mm with Tom Herman, South Carolina owed Will Muschamp for $15mm. Hey that was the contract so I am not criticizing these men. I AM pointing out the remarkable actions of Anderson. I don’t know the man, I don’t know the specifics I just know what he said.

“How could I wake up every day and look at myself in the mirror knowing I took money from the kids in that program?” he told a colleague, believing the money could be used for things that would benefit the players. “Coaching is not about the mighty dollar. It is about teaching and putting young men in a position to succeed on and off the field. Success comes when all parties involved are moving in the same direction.”

Most of us would say D1 football is about the money. Not Gary Andersen.

If your actions made the front page. Would you feel good about them?