Construction Leadership Lab: The Room Where the Real Talk Happens

Why Leadership Feels So Heavy

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This is not one of those super sanitized clinical environments where all you can do is talk about business. No, no, no, no. Like business is secondary. What I want to talk about is you as a human being, because I know for a damn fact the more I invest in me, the more I take care of me, the better I can serve others. What's going on, LM family? I got a special announcement for all my construction leaders out there. And just in case you didn't know, being a leader in construction will absolutely test your spirit, especially if you want to leave the industry better than you found it. Because when it comes to leading people or leading change, there ain't no instructions for that kind of work. And because there ain't no instructions, many, many times you just gotta make a damn call and kind of cross your fingers and hope it works out. And most of the time it does. So if you've lost like many hours of sleep, woken up with the 3 a.m. scaries, like did I call, did I send, did I check, did I do type of scaries? I got something for you. It is something that I absolutely wish I had. In the old 20 plus years I spent leading people, leading change, leading departments. I wish I had a crew of people that I could tap into to check my thinking against, to get their insight, to just vent and complain about the realities of being a leader with very little experience in doing the leading. And you and those of you out there that have been in the leadership role for any amount of time, sure, you get some experience, but son of a gun, you get all kinds of new random problems that you got to fix right there in the moment that you can't just build experience around, but other people have been through it. And

Introducing Construction Leadership Lab

SPEAKER_00 1:53

that's why I'm inviting you to the Construction Leadership Lab. It is a community of OG ballers that not only have a massive amount of experience out there doing the hard work of being a leader, but we are committed to leaving the construction industry better than we found it. And I say that a lot, but like for me, for real, for real, I 100% am committed to making that happen. And I know I can't do it by myself. So again, that's another reason we started the Construction Leadership Lab. And the current members have two big things in common. One, they want to contribute to the path of others, they want to share their experience, they want to help people not do it the hard way, and they also want to receive. They're looking for support, they're looking for insight. So it's a totally reciprocal experience. And if that's your kind of flavor, you're gonna want to keep listening. And so the community has a whole bunch of bells and whistle, whiz banggy stuff. But the core things that I think are gonna contribute to your path, the core things that I think are like super meaty and transformational are the monthly calls, the weekly newsletter, and the content vault. Like I said, there's a bunch of other stuff. There's an app where we can chat, there's unlockables, you do the challenges, you stack points, and you unlock stuff, which is fun. And like networking-wise and engagement-wise, it's a good time, right? It's an exclusive, safe space for us to share and chat and do all of that stuff, which is good. That's super, super helpful. But the meat, the kick you in your mouth, slap you in your face, value of the thing is again the calls, the content vault, and the weekly newsletter, which really, at the foundation of all of that, is the freaking group of amazing human beings that have already signed up and have been contributing to the development of the damn community. We got people that are from the GC space, we got people that are in the subcontractor space, owners' reps, coaches, and consultants like me, uh, service providers. We got just about every segment of the construction industry represented from all over the country, even from Canada. So we're kind of like international now, which is super, super fancy. And so, right out of the gate, you're gonna be able to connect with all of these awesome people, right? You'll have rather, I should say, you'll have access to them. The connection part takes some effort. You got to like DM them and message them, and like that's how connection happens. But it ain't just about networking, right? This isn't just about glad handing and introducing yourselves and telling each other what your job is and what industry you're in, and all what value do you provide, which is important. But what we're looking for in this community is connection, support, right? Because transforming the industry is gonna take a whole lot more than having some cool context in my email list.

What You Get In The Lab

SPEAKER_00 4:52

And so let me tell you about the calls. We got two calls every other week. Well, technically we have four, but they're kind of the same. So we're gonna have calls on Friday mornings and midday on Saturdays. You can choose which one you want to come to. You don't have to go to all of them. And there's different subjects, right? And you know, there was a time in my career where what I would look at people like leaders, right, that had their stuff together, they would make things happen. It always looked like they had, they just had it together. And I would be distracted with like what they had, right? Their vehicles and um their authority and their influence. And eventually I figured out, like, no, no, no, that's not really what I want. What I want, what I really, really want, is I want to understand how they think. Like, how do they go about making their decisions? How do they go about, you know, um hiring people, firing people, or taking on a new initiative, carving out a new path? Like that was not obvious. I could just see them doing it, but I couldn't get the see how what the wheels were doing when they were making those decisions. What I found over the years is by doing book studies, and I know it's not, it's not the sexiest thing, right? It's kind of a little bit nerdy, but like for real,

Book Studies To Learn How Leaders Think

SPEAKER_00 6:12

for real, doing book studies, everybody reading the same book, and then not going page by page and reading out loud whatever's in the damn book, but discussing our takeaways, like what stood out to us, what slapped us in the face, uh, what do we disagree with? That gave me super deep insight into the way other people think. And it challenged my assumptions because I got a lot of, you know, I think I knew it all all the time, and I learn all the time that I don't. And so one of the calls every month is focused on a book study, a conversation around some books that we're reading. And the plan is every three months to go through a book. So we're not running a race. This isn't mental masturbation and competing about how many books we can read in a week. Like that ain't the game I play. I don't read for entertainment. This is about aligning our thinking, learning from each other, and having some deep conversation around the thing. And my hope of hopes, what I'm working hard to make happen is talking about the concepts and the insights in the book, in the community, as it applies to us professionally and personally. This is not one of those super sanitized clinical environments where all you can do is talk about business. No, no, no, no. Like business is secondary. What I want to talk about is you as a human being, because I know for a damn fact the more I invest in me, the more I take care of me, the better I can serve others. And so the conversations in these book studies is two-faced, right? One, we're gonna talk about business and construction and how it applies to us professionally, because that's comfortable. But once we start building that trust amongst the group, I know that we're gonna be talking about how it applies to us as an individual, how I can apply the concepts, the ideas, and the thinking at home with my friends, with my family, all over the place. And that's when things really heat up.

Fishbowl Coaching And Real Problem Solving

SPEAKER_00 8:09

And so that's one call every month. The next call is going to be it's gonna be some fun. The meat of that call is a problem-solving call. And so, kind of like I said a little while ago, man, getting into leadership. I never knew how many crazy, wild, off the problems I was gonna have to learn how to deal with, make a call and just cross my fingers. And, you know, luckily more went well than didn't. We're all faced with problems. We all have issues, moral issues that we're dealing with when we got to make a hard decision. And it's very difficult. Like for me, it's true, and I've seen it true for many, many leaders across the country that you got a situation that you I know I need some insight. I know that my knowledge base is insufficient to make like a really confident decision on, but I can't go to my peers because guess what? There ain't no peers close by. And if I did go to my peers, the ones that are close by, well, those sons of guns might use it against me. And so it's very difficult to be a leader in construction, not just because you want to perform and the pressure's high, but because as you progress up the organizational chart, your peer group gets thinner. And within the company, it may not be a safe space to where you could go to your partner and say, Hey, bro, I got this thing. I'm, you know, I don't know what to do. What do you suggest? Some people are lucky they get to do that, but a lot of people don't get to do that because if they did, that other person is gonna use it against them. And so the second call of the month is it's focused on problem solving and fishbowl coaching, is what we're gonna be calling it. And what that means, we're gonna be on a virtual call. And you have a problem, something that's been kicking you in the face. Again, it doesn't have to be a work day job-related thing, it could be a personal issue, it could be you launching a side gig or a side project that you want some insight, because we got a lot of entrepreneurs and people that have started their side gigs, me being one of them. Anything is open to be discussed. You bring your problem to the conversation, and you get the rest of the group, um, you get to tap into their experience. They're gonna ask questions, they're gonna share their insights, make some suggestions, make some recommendations, point out some trip hazards to avoid. You get to decide what you're gonna do with it, but you get to chew the fat with the group, which will help you in the long run. Now, we're not just gonna be doing problem solving on the call. We're gonna kick off that call with like the topic of the month, uh, and we'll be generating topics. It's up to the community. We'll decide with the community what the topic of the month is on that call. We'll spend, I don't know, 10, 15, 20 minutes sharing our insights, our perspective. This is how I think about it. These are my cheat codes on how I do things, which we can pick and choose what works and apply it to ourselves. And if it doesn't apply, just ignore it and roll on. And then the last part of the call is the one that has me really, really excited because I've never tried it before. Um, but I know for a damn fact that when I make a commitment to people, the likelihood of me following through and delivering on that commitment skyrockets. And so we're going to add a commitment element to this call where the members, if they're working on a goal or an objective that they want to make progress on, all they got to do is make a commitment to the group. Hey man, I'm gonna, I'm working on this thing. I wanna do, I'm committed to doing X amount of time with between now and the next call. And that opens the door for the rest of the community to check in and support and maybe give advice and harass or whatever you're comfortable with. Um, I know for me, like I don't need people checking on me because once I've said it, it's like, okay, now I'm gonna damn well do it. But I also know some people that they like to be checked on, they need the follow-up and hey, where are you? What are you doing? And so, anyways, the main point is to help the community go super fast on all their damn goals. And I don't know any other way than to make a commitment to the group because guess what? You're gonna be seeing these fools next time, and they're gonna be wondering, how are you doing? Did you make progress? How can I contribute to your path? And so those are the calls, right? Like, if you can't tell, those are that's like my favorite element because I just I love to see people connect, I love to see trust bubble up and just grow. And I'm super, super optimistic about the impact it's going to have on the members out there in the wild when they go back to their homes and go back to their jobs and start making things better for people, but first making that things better for themselves.

Commitments That Drive Follow-Through

SPEAKER_00 13:04

And so that's the calls. Now, the other chunk that I think is fun and I've gotten some good feedback on is the weekly newsletter. I know there's a bit a million newsletters out there. So, because of that, I am committed to keeping it pretty short and digestible. Every Monday I put out the selfish servant cheat sheets, and it's one idea that you can chew on to shift your thinking. There's a little bit of a description of like how to apply the concept or the idea, and a little call to action of, you know, go try it and see how it works for you. All focus on equipping you with another perspective, another angle, another idea that you can go and try so that you can better serve the people

Weekly Cheat Sheet And Content Vault

SPEAKER_00 13:45

in front of you. And then the last part, also kind of fun, but yeah, I like the interactive stuff, uh, is the content vault. And so the purpose of the content vault is to give you that immediate shot in the arm of some cool stuff that you can put your hands on and put into practice. What you'll find there are downloadable cheat codes that you can, like templates and checklists and stuff that you can take and start applying to yourself and take and share with your team to help your team get better, right? Because if you're a leader as defined in between these two ears, a leader in Jesse Land means that you are committed to developing others. And so the resources that are in the content vault are intended not just to help you, but so that you can take and apply it and use it to help your team and contribute to their path. Now, did I mention that the members of the construction leadership lab are like OG badass ballers from all over the industry? Like we've got, you know, I thought I kind of talked about the different demographics, but we've got superintendents, we've got uh department heads, we have people that have been leading teams and leading organizations for 20 plus years. We got people that are early on and you know, three to five years. We got folks that have been leading initiatives, starting businesses. So the main point is the community has a wide, wide range of experience and it's just growing with every new member. The range of experience gets deeper. Okay, so if you haven't like jumped off and did the clicking to sign up and be part of the community, I've been obsessing about this thing for uh several months now, so it's it's like all trapped in my head. Um, and so I want to help you understand what the purpose of the community

Purpose And Safe Space Ground Rules

SPEAKER_00 15:33

is. The purpose of the construction leadership lab is to be the space that industry leaders come to recharge their batteries and tap into the experience of the group. The resources and experiences are designed to help us as a group do better at the messy human parts of leading people, driving change, and fulfilling the commitments to the people we love. I mentioned that earlier, right? And not just about work, it's about the whole person. And the primary objective of this community is to leave the construction industry better than we found it by serving others, demonstrating the behaviors we seek, and investing in who we got. And the number one person you got is you. Now, if you've been listening to me for a while, you know I run a little fast and loose. And so we put some guidelines in place to help us stay on track and not go entirely off the rails. And so, guideline number one is be generous. And I'm not talking about like give me all your money, give me a little bit, but not all of it. If you want to be a member of this community, I'm expecting you to be generous with your focus and your attention on the calls when other people are sharing their insight. Be generous with that focus and attention, be generous with your expertise and your care, right? Be I know you care about people, otherwise, you wouldn't have listened this long. And I know you got some expertise, and I promise you there are other people that need that. And so I need you to be generous with what you got. And also, I need you to be generous with your intensity and your trust. It is a safe space. I am committed to keeping it a safe space so that we can cultivate that trust and also so that we can get intense. Like I'm expecting there'll be some conflict as long as it's respectful, it's okay. And when I say intensity, I mean bring all of you. Like if you're distracted and you got stuff going on, go handle that. Matter of fact, the calls, we're gonna have the calls twice a month. Those calls will be recorded and uploaded into an exclusive podcast that only members have access to. And so if you miss a call, you just get go to the podcast, you'll have access to it, and you get to listen and get caught up on what the discussion was.

Be Generous Be Fearless Be Cool

SPEAKER_00 17:57

And so give your intensity, be generous with your intensity, not just in the community, but with your people, with your family. Guideline number two is be fearless. Be fearless in supporting your people, not just the group, supporting your people outside of the group, your family, your team members, your coworkers, your church members, all of them. Be fearless in supporting them. Be fearless in sharing your gifts and talents. We have all been blessed with gifts and talents. And I believe the secret to life is sharing those gifts and talents and service to others. And I know that when I do that, I am serving in the manner that I am best designed to serve. And I believe it's the same thing for you. You just gotta kind of get a little uncomfortable. Some of us, some of us do, not all of us. And also, I want you to be fearless in learning and growing. What that looks like is you're gonna make mistakes, you're gonna drop the ball, you're gonna fail on some things, but you're gonna learn and you're gonna grow. Don't stay in the same place. It takes some courage, I know, but that's what we're looking for. And you know what? If you don't have a whole lot of that, it's okay. We got plenty of people in the community that do. And so you could just borrow a little bit from them until you got your own fuel. Now, the last guideline is be cool, right? Like, just be cool. Treat members the way they want to be treated. I know that's a little complicated. Like, well, how in the hell am I supposed to know how they want to be treated? Um, I know the key. Ask them, right? What that means is you're gonna have to be connected, you're gonna have to invest some time. You don't have to, I'm recommending it. But if you step on somebody's toes accidentally, it's because you don't know how they want to be treated. And so put in the effort to connect with the people inside the membership and learn what makes them feel appreciated and then give it to them, right? That's the idea. Be cool, be more interested than interesting. I trust that you got all kinds of magical amazingness and you've accomplished massive, massive things. I believe you already. I don't even know you yet. But showing up and telling everybody everything you've done every time you show up, guess what? It's a turnoff. Now, if you show up and start asking questions and demonstrating interest in other people, guess what? People are gonna like you. And so that's the idea. Be more interested than interesting. I know we all have a product to sell, we all have a service we want to provide. So do that. That is totally reasonable to bring to the conversation, but also take a little bit of time to get to know other people. And then lastly, be cool and manage your airtime. Now, of course, when I'm facilitating the calls, that's one of the core responsibilities I have is to make sure that nobody dominates the conversation and make sure I pull everybody in so everybody has an opportunity to contribute and welcome objections and all that good stuff. And you have some responsibility. If you're talking to say the same thing somebody else already said using different words, I'm gonna call you on it. And the easy way to avoid that is manage your air time. If you kind of do a quick check and you've been saying a lot more words than everybody else on the call, guess what? You're hogging up the airtime. So be cool. Say what you gotta say as concisely as you can say it. Don't repeat yourself, add value, right? And and the rest will be easy, anyways. Those are the guidelines for the community.

Boundaries And How To Join

SPEAKER_00 21:33

And I know it might feel a little bit like there's some rules here. Yeah, I know I wasn't really crazy about adding them, but the test pilots pointed out, like, hey, Jess, like this is awesome, but like what's the rule? What are the boundaries? I say, ooh, okay, let me work on that. And so I, you know, tinkered on that and drafted that. Uh, and so, you know, if you think, like, if you can play within those parameters and you're looking to expand your network and grow your talents, grow your skill set, access to massive, massive experience, you should really consider signing up for the construction leadership lab. And if not, just keep coming back and listen to the learnins and missteps podcast. Be kind to yourself, be cool, and we'll talk at you next time. Peace.