April 2, 2026

The Dirty Secret About Moving Up in Construction Nobody Prepares You For — With Gary Borque

Most people in construction get promoted and handed a completely different job with the same title. No roadmap. No manual. No honest conversation about what moving up is actually going to cost them. Gary Borque lived that. Multiple times. He started as a fabricator, worked his way through the millwright and carpenter's union, spent five years as a traveling superintendent, built a training department from scratch, and now serves as director of field operations at Hemi Systems. Every transitio...

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Season 3

Most people in construction get promoted and handed a completely different job with the same title.

No roadmap. No manual. No honest conversation about what moving up is actually going to cost them.

Gary Borque lived that. Multiple times.

He started as a fabricator, worked his way through the millwright and carpenter's union, spent five years as a traveling superintendent, built a training department from scratch, and now serves as director of field operations at Hemi Systems.

Every transition came with the same dirty secret nobody warned him about — and in this episode he finally says it out loud.

Gary gets into the imposter syndrome that nearly derailed him, how he learned to compete against himself instead of everyone around him, and why 42.5% of the construction industry retiring in the next ten years isn't a future problem — it's already here.

If you've ever gotten promoted and immediately wondered if someone was going to figure out you didn't have it all together — this one's going to hit close to home.

Connect with Gary Borque | LinkedIn

Learn more about Depth Builder


00:00 Imposter Syndrome Fuel

00:38 Meet Gary Bork

02:37 Constructability Explained

04:08 Estimating Field Gap

05:29 Cost Codes Integrity

08:06 From Fabricator Mindset

10:32 Union Pride Shift

13:33 Field Experience Advantage

19:05 Leadership Skills Upgrades

26:43 Handling Bad Leadership

30:29 Life as Road Superintendent

33:55 Leading Like Family

36:56 Doubt in New Role

38:00 Asking Questions Under Pressure

38:30 Imposter Syndrome as Fuel

40:11 Ask for Help and Get Specific

41:39 Why Debt Builder Matters

44:22 Transition Into Training

45:34 Building Training From Real Gaps

47:57 Workforce Shortage and Safety Stakes

49:36 Planning Toolbox in Action

51:15 Investing in People to Win Talent

53:38 New Role in Field Operations

55:51 Hiring and Mobile Training Trailer

59:09 Legacy and Final Wrap

Get the time management system that will make you dangerously effective: https://www.depthbuilder.com/time-management-webinar-sign-up-page

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Download the free PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be

00:00 - Welcome And Gary’s Journey

02:39 - What Constructability Really Means

04:40 - Bridging The Office Field Gap

08:15 - Production Mindset And Early Growth

14:30 - Empathy For The Work

19:06 - Communication And Time Blocking Skills

26:38 - Learning Under Weak Leadership

30:31 - Traveling Superintendent Life And Standards

38:21 - Imposter Syndrome And Asking Questions

45:43 - Building Training From Real Jobsite Gaps

50:53 - Simple Planning Tools That Work

52:55 - Investing In People To Win Talent

55:01 - Director Of Field Ops Reality Check

01:00:46 - Legacy Mindset And Closing Requests

WEBVTT

00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.640
You you have that imposter syndrome sometimes.

00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:08.880
You go through these situations where you feel like you may be unqualified, and it's a mental inner struggle.

00:00:09.039 --> 00:00:10.640
And I but I think that's normal.

00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:12.640
That's us being stressed.

00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:17.280
And I think everybody who's been put into a higher position will go through that.

00:00:17.519 --> 00:00:20.239
Or for the most part, you will feel inadequate.

00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:21.760
You will feel less than.

00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:36.240
What can I do today that I could that could do better than yesterday?

00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:40.880
What is going on, LM family?

00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:42.159
Back again.

00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:48.000
And this time I'm getting to interview somebody I connected with through the socials.

00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:54.799
We have a very similar heart and kind of similar path, except he's more accomplished and more professional than I'm.

00:00:55.679 --> 00:00:59.920
He began his career in 2011 as a fabricator.

00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:04.799
And he worked his way up through the Millwright Carpenter's Union.

00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:13.599
So already y'all know he's a craft worker, trades person by heart, which of course I'm gonna gush on him a little more than normal.

00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:18.480
He's also been a traveling superintendent, road warrior for about five years.

00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:23.920
And all you folks out there that have been on the road traveling to execute projects, you know that life.

00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:28.159
It's not the easiest, but and it's pretty dang rewarding sometimes.

00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:30.159
But he didn't just stop there.

00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:38.959
He recently moved from managing training and constructability to director of field operations.

00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:40.959
So let me just summarize that for you.

00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:49.760
Started off as a fabricator working with his hands in the field, got into apprenticeship, and now he's a director of field operations, which that path is available.

00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:51.359
That's what I love about construction.

00:01:51.519 --> 00:01:54.239
That pathway is available to so many people.

00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:55.599
His name is Mr.

00:01:55.760 --> 00:01:56.719
Gary Bork.

00:01:56.959 --> 00:02:01.359
He's an OG real baller, and we're gonna get to learn more about him.

00:02:01.599 --> 00:02:20.159
And so, if this is your first time here, this is the Learn In Missteps podcast, where you get to see amazing human beings just like you tell us how they are sharing their gifts and talents to leave this world better than they found it.

00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:25.599
I am Jesse, your selfish servant, and we are about to get to know Mr.

00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:26.080
Gary.

00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:26.719
Mr.

00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:28.800
Gary, how are you doing, man?

00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:30.400
I'm doing well, Jesse.

00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:31.520
It's a pleasure to be here.

00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:34.479
It's an honor to be with you guys, and looking forward to this.

00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:37.919
It's a really good day today, so let's get fired off here.

00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:41.919
Okay, so I'm gonna start with a simple question.

00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:44.319
What's constructability?

00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:51.120
It's that's interesting because a lot of people kind of you know they get sidetracked on that, right?

00:02:51.280 --> 00:03:04.400
You hear the term being thrown out a few times, you hear, you know, constructibility in different, you know, different environments, but constructibility in its true sense is just how are we going to build this project, right?

00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:19.039
When we're being when we're able to sequentially put steps in place, zone things out in a way that brings clarity to your people, to where it makes it easier on them to build what you want to happen, that's constructability.

00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:30.479
So we're working with pre-construction, we're working with the estimating team, and we're breaking projects down so that we can present it to a client, or we can present it to our people so that they can be more efficient.

00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:39.039
Gary, that's the best for real, the best description and most thorough description I've ever heard.

00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:50.800
Particularly because most of the time the conversation around constructability kind of just lives in the estimating and presentation to the client perspective.

00:03:50.960 --> 00:03:51.599
Can we build it?

00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:52.479
What's it gonna cost?

00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:55.840
What's it gonna take to logistically and all that other stuff?

00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:59.759
Rarely is it ever actually I've experienced firsthand.

00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:06.800
This is people don't usually think, okay, we know how to bid it, but how the hell are we gonna help the people do it?

00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:08.319
Yeah, that's the biggest thing.

00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:09.599
Well, there was a gap, right?

00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:10.639
I'm hearing your story.

00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:13.520
There's a huge gap from the office to the field, right?

00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:17.120
And there's a lot of information that doesn't translate down into the field.

00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:21.920
So coming from the field, I recognize hey, this is something that needs to be filled.

00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:24.560
This is something that's gonna help us achieve success.

00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:28.639
And there's like with estimating, there's a lot of things that get missed.

00:04:28.879 --> 00:04:38.879
There's a lot of things that they just don't quite know because they may be in the office, they don't have field experience, and so that's where we come in and we bring that clarity to the field.

00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:40.560
Man, okay.

00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:44.240
I'm hoping you've never had this conversation because I've had it too many times.

00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:45.600
But will I be reviewing?

00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:47.040
Okay, they got the project set up.

00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:49.279
Hey, Jess, we're going for an interview, look it over.

00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:53.199
I'm like, okay, let me see the quick pen, like the software that we use for our estimate.

00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:54.560
They're like, ah, you don't need that.

00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:58.399
I said, Yes, I do, because I need to know what I'm getting into.

00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:00.720
And of course, I would identify gaps.

00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:09.439
And again, it took me a long time to mature to the point where you know what they're human too, and they're estimating three or four projects a day, like give them some grace.

00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:19.199
But, anyways, I would identify gaps, you know, things that were overlooked, or maybe they put it in a different bucket, and I just wanted clarity, and so I would bring the issues up, right?

00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:24.800
And look, the team would tell me, Jess, if we got everything in the estimate, we wouldn't get the job.

00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:26.879
You ever been a part of those conversations?

00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:54.079
Absolutely, absolutely, you know, and in a way into it brings some sort of integrity too, because when there is miscommunication in the estimate, right, and it hits the field, and then you have those certain buckets where money is allotted to you, and then you might have an estimator, or not an estimator, but you may have somebody in the field not properly identifying where those monies are going, and so they'll tend to overload one to make one task look better.

00:05:54.240 --> 00:06:01.920
If they're running over on the estimate, they'll try to subtract that and put it into a different bucket, and it brings a little bit of integrity into the mix, too.

00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:04.319
So oh my god, yeah.

00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:11.839
I what I'm hearing is task codes where I'm gonna charge my time and the material cost to, and that was one thing.

00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:13.120
It fell in and fell.

00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:17.839
If you're one of these, just know if I find out you're gonna be on the dead to me list.

00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:19.360
I cannot stand.

00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:28.000
And it was a thing that used to happen, and it happened with everybody, but kind of back to this integrity thing where it was like the money was put in the wrong bucket.

00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:29.360
Let's just say that.

00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:35.360
And we're charging time where we're supposed to be charging time to this to say plumbing underground, right?

00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:45.360
That's the task code, and we're coming up on 95% of that budget expended, and we still got 15% of the labor to do the work.

00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:50.959
Somebody in the office says, stop charging that code, start charging this code.

00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:53.920
And I'm like, why are we gonna do that?

00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:55.600
Well, because you're running out of money.

00:06:55.759 --> 00:06:59.120
And I'm like, so what's the point of having task codes then?

00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:02.480
If we're just gonna I'm eating up, I'm not even working.

00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:05.360
Like, just give me one task code if that's what you're gonna make me do.

00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:10.000
And I was I was like eventually I got to a point in my career where I was a stickler.

00:07:10.319 --> 00:07:18.160
If you're gonna make me charge a different code, even though I know it's not right, I am not gonna do it.

00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:21.600
We're gonna fight tooth and nail because I'm not gonna do that.

00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:32.160
Because in my head, the value of having that kind of delineation in terms of the different tascodes and whatever is to be able to measure our performance, learn from that, and get better.

00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:35.199
Am I just like a Disneyland fairy tale guy?

00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:48.800
That's a very interesting point because whenever you get to the end of the project and you're going over lessons learned or project close out, how do you understand like where to change, where to grow, where to evolve into the next project that's very similar?

00:07:48.959 --> 00:07:51.759
And so that's where those buckets come into play.

00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:53.199
We did this the first time.

00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:54.639
There might have been some mistakes.

00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:56.480
How are we going to do better next time?

00:07:56.639 --> 00:07:58.720
And so that gets missed a lot.

00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:05.839
And I think that's a huge gap right now in the industry that we're all trying to, you know, build out and kind of put together again.

00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:06.639
Yeah.

00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:07.040
Yeah.

00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:10.319
You're like the big dog now, director of field operations.

00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:17.600
And so we kind of kind of gives you a different perspective of the whole business and the value, the purpose behind the codes.

00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:21.279
But let's go back to when you were a fabricator.

00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:23.360
Did any of that matter to you?

00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:23.920
Yeah.

00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:29.120
I did not care about toss codes, I did not care about buckets.

00:08:29.279 --> 00:08:31.680
My my main concern was production.

00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:33.440
How fast can I go?

00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:35.200
How can I beat the next guy?

00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:38.080
That was my mentality at the time, right?

00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:39.519
I wanted to grow.

00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:45.679
I wanted to, you know, I was very young, 22 years old, and I wanted to make a name for myself.

00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:50.480
How could I get the most done and wreck everything in my way?

00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:52.480
That was my mentality earlier on.

00:08:52.720 --> 00:09:05.360
That was it because you're bulldozing your way through, you don't understand the politics, you don't understand all the naysayers, and you don't really recognize the negative impact you're having.

00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:08.960
I had to learn the hard way, but yeah, you're absolutely right.

00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:10.960
No, I love it.

00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:12.320
Same, very same.

00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:15.360
Like I just wanted to be the best damn apprentice around.

00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:21.519
When I got my license, I just want to be the best journeyman and just beat everybody in my circle.

00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:25.519
And then eventually, some people say I got promoted.

00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:28.799
It felt more like I got punished up the ladder.

00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:31.440
Got more responsibilities and all the other things.

00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:39.200
So, as a fabricator, did you decide back then, okay, I want to be a director of field operations.

00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:45.200
And in order to do that, I'm gonna do this much time in the union, I'm gonna do this much time traveling in the superintendent.

00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:47.039
Was it that cut and dry for you?

00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:48.480
Not at all, not at all.

00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:49.759
It was a journey, JC.

00:09:50.080 --> 00:10:01.679
I'm sure you have this picture, right, for your future and your career and your family, but I was so narrow-minded and I had a completely different mindset than I have now.

00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:13.360
And I think that journey, you start to evolve and you start to view things in your life and different chapters with a different lens because of the experiences that you go through.

00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:21.519
You know, that's the failures, that's the wins, that's the long hours away from home, that's making mistakes in the field, a lot of rework, or what have you.

00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:27.519
I mean, it just keeps going on and on, but you don't really see that far ahead early on in your career.

00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:32.720
It's hard to see that far ahead because and with construction, everything changes, right?

00:10:32.879 --> 00:10:35.759
Because with me, I started out in fabrication.

00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:37.759
One, because it gave me a job.

00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:43.039
I had a small family, I had I was newly married, and I needed a way to make money.

00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:49.279
And so once I got into fabrication, I started to understand wow, okay, these guys are welding.

00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:50.720
This is very interesting to me.

00:10:50.879 --> 00:11:06.000
I wanted to learn how to weld, and then I started to see how to put machinery together, how to build out different systems, and then you just start expanding your knowledge, and then I got to a point in fabrication where I wanted more for my family, and then that's where the union came.

00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:06.559
Right.

00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:15.039
And then with the union, it brought a lot of benefits than I currently didn't have, a lot of there was an increase in pay and a lot more opportunity.

00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:17.039
So I went that route.

00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:22.480
Now that is where I started to understand the pride in what I do.

00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:24.080
That's whenever I would start.

00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:36.240
I started to sit back and take ownership over every task and every decision that I was making because it had greater impact, not just on myself or my company, but on the local union.

00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:38.399
And I wanted to represent that well.

00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:43.279
And so I my mindset started to shift at that point.

00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:49.519
And with that, I continued to grow and I continued to grow through the union and did the union bid.

00:11:49.679 --> 00:11:52.159
And then we decided to make a change.

00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:54.320
We decided to make a change in our life.

00:11:54.480 --> 00:11:55.440
We sold everything.

00:11:55.600 --> 00:12:00.080
We were in California, and we decided, hey, we didn't have any family here.

00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:01.600
We wanted to do something different.

00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:10.480
I was working 714s for six months straight every year for about six years at a small family, three kids at that time.

00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:16.399
And I really started to see the demand it started putting on my responsibilities at home.

00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:18.080
And I had to make a change.

00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:27.440
And so that's where I went into the next chapter of my life and started going on the road, which was a very interesting pathway for me.

00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:28.240
But it was fun.

00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:29.759
It was fun, but I'll tell you that.

00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:35.840
You know, we're gonna do the LM family member shout-out.

00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:37.360
And this one goes to Mr.

00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:44.080
Johnny Livingston, another recent victim of the time management for construction training.

00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:46.879
He left this review, five stars, by the way.

00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:49.039
He gave me five stars and I didn't bribe him.

00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:55.759
He said, the class was very open and it opened my eyes into taking care of myself.

00:12:56.000 --> 00:13:01.200
By taking care of myself, I can take better care of others.

00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:03.440
Yes, that is the whole point.

00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:04.480
Yeah, I agree.

00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:08.799
I want to be super hyper-efficient and optimizing, get a million things done.

00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:10.320
But that don't work.

00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:13.039
That is not sustainable if I'm not taking care of myself.

00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:15.600
So, Johnny, I appreciate you leaving that comment.

00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:18.639
And folks out there, you already know I love attention.

00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:24.000
So the stars and the shares and the thumbs up and the reviews, all of the things, I love them.

00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:30.559
And when you leave a review or a comment, it gives me an opportunity to celebrate you in the future.

00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:42.399
So I want to learn a little bit about the pathway because I similar, I think similarly, there was some major learnings when I made the ship.

00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:46.399
Now I didn't go to traveling superintendent, I went to traveling lean geek.

00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:55.440
But before I go into that, man, I'm curious to like now you're director of field operations, so you have a lot, you have enterprise responsibility.

00:13:55.679 --> 00:14:00.480
The decisions you make are not like back in the day when you were fabbing something up.

00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:03.440
If you had a weak weld, you grinded it out and fixed it.

00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:10.000
Like the fix to some of the decisions you're gonna make is a little bigger than what they were back in the day.

00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:29.679
But on the same note, my assumption, or what I'm curious about, is as a fabricator and going through the union at the time you were with the union, there were skills that you built at that time that directly apply to what you're doing now.

00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:30.879
Am I wrong?

00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:32.080
Absolutely right.

00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:42.960
Yeah, and that kind of goes back to your initial question about constructibility and being able to blend field experience with office experience, right?

00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:56.720
And that's another gap that we struggle as an industry in right now is having that field experience coming into the office to help estimating, to help strategic planning, to help where we're going as a company, right?

00:14:56.960 --> 00:15:00.080
Because you have a different viewpoint because you've been there.

00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:05.919
You've been in the dirt, you've been in the trenches, you understand what it actually takes to build this out.

00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:11.519
And with that, you can scale that as a company because you can see that long term.

00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:25.039
You can see what benefits, what hurdles, what things might not work, that other people who may not have traveled that path may have come straight out of college into the office world that they're not able to see.

00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:29.440
And so that's what I'm able to help contribute in a way when I can.

00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:31.200
Yeah, yeah.

00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:35.440
I've heard this phrase before empathy for the work, right?

00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:40.000
And the people that have spent time, there's layers, right?

00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:46.320
But folks like us that came up assembling, doing construction, doing the assembly, the fabrication, the stuff.

00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:50.399
We have an empathy from the work because we know what the pain was, right?

00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:57.440
We knew we know firsthand the impact, good leadership, good systems, good processes.

00:15:57.679 --> 00:16:02.240
We know the impact that can have on an individual and just daily performance.

00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:07.120
Yes, and the individuals, not the ones that want to want to be CEO in six months.

00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:15.679
Anybody like me as an installer that I didn't want, don't I don't want nobody calling me, I don't want nobody knowing my name, just give me my assignments I'm gonna go kick ass.

00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:22.080
Good leadership, good systems, good processes help me excel.

00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:31.519
And I've been in situations where weak leadership, weak systems, horrible communication, it didn't matter how hard I worked, my performance sucked.

00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:47.279
Yeah, and so my point in that is by swimming in it, we develop an empathy for the work, which is if we choose to do so, which is extremely valuable as we progress through the levels of management, but nobody tells you that.

00:16:47.519 --> 00:17:00.799
And also, I want to you know give a nod to my to our friends out there that entered the industry by way of you know, they got a degree, they got uh education, and then got into their, you know, estimating or engineering or whatever it is.

00:17:01.039 --> 00:17:15.519
There's extreme value there, and like partner up, man, because I'm not saying you are not qualified or you're less than, I'm just saying there's some things that you don't know by just because of the path you took.

00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:17.759
It's not a judgment, it's a fact.

00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:19.359
What do you think about that?

00:17:19.839 --> 00:17:20.480
Absolutely.

00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:25.119
So, I mean, with that, going back to a little bit about what you said, you're absolutely right.

00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:44.799
When you come from the field, you're able to see good and bad leadership, you're able to understand on an accompanied viewpoint how not to lead your people because you see you see bad leadership and it happens, and you have to figure out how to get through that and how to achieve greatness through that.

00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:46.160
But you take those moments.

00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:53.920
I remember whenever in that fabrication shop, I noticed a foreman, I remember his name, and I still remember this guy to the day.

00:17:54.000 --> 00:18:01.200
And I always told myself, I'm never gonna treat people how he treated me or these people, and so I that stuck with me.

00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:05.440
It was something that was ingrained in me every step of the way.

00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:10.160
I always go back, and we have those leaders, and we learn something from them.

00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:17.680
I'm always the person to say, no matter who they are, even if they make the bad decisions, I try to draw the good out of people.

00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:23.200
And so if I see something, I might approach it and say, hey, I appreciate what you said.

00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:27.680
I don't agree with what you said, but now I understand how not to treat people.

00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:30.400
Try to keep it the nice political way.

00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:39.279
But you know, that's how you grow businesses, like you said, you take the estimators, you take people who went that pathway, and you're absolutely right.

00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:40.960
There is huge value in that.

00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:54.400
There's people that are in specific lanes and in the right seats on the bus for a reason, and that allows us to cohesively come together as a team because whenever you have both mindsets, you're unmatched, right?

00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:56.400
You can be the tip of the sword, right?

00:18:56.559 --> 00:19:05.599
When you have that teamwork, and with that comes healthy conflict, but you get through that and you're able to be better as a team.

00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:09.039
Oh man, I love so you you triggered a thought.

00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:16.400
What are some skills that you had to learn in the last let's say the last two transitions you had in terms of your career?

00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:23.920
What are some skills that you had to develop that you had no idea where to go and figure out how to develop them?

00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:36.400
Oh man, that that's tough because it it seems when you go through different levels in your career path, it doesn't matter what it is, change hurts.

00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:41.200
Change happens, and you have to learn how to just roll with the punches.

00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:50.799
But I was able to gather and put people around me as barriers, people above me, people that used to look up to me.

00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:58.079
I surrounded myself with people who've gone the path who can direct me in a way to where I won't fall off the ship.

00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:05.920
And so I think the two skills I would say the most that I had to learn one is how to communicate to people better.

00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:12.880
It's it's something as you work up the chains, you have to understand that you're working with different personalities.

00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:25.039
Now you're working at you're working with people in the field, whether it's in a craft level, you know, in the manager of training position, you're trying to teach them a way of how to put the product together.

00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:33.440
And then when you're coming into the director of operation or director of field operations, now you're trying to teach people how to do that.

00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:37.599
Now you're trying to teach people how to teach your people if you're trying, if you can follow me.

00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:46.000
It gets complicated, but it's learning the systems, learning the processes, setting yourself up with leader standard work.

00:20:46.160 --> 00:20:48.240
That's a huge skill that I had to put into place.

00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:49.839
I started time blocking.

00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:54.240
I understood it doesn't matter if it was a to-do list, I'm putting it on my calendar.

00:20:54.400 --> 00:20:59.119
I'm going for I'm going the day before and I'm blocking my time out.

00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:05.200
You know, I have my first one in the morning is workout, bad name, right?

00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:19.519
I'm motivating myself to need a workout, whether it's respond to emails, whether it's text so and so, whether it's do this, whether it's do that, whether do expenses, what I'm blocking everything out so I can put a hundred percent of my focus in that.

00:21:19.759 --> 00:21:27.920
Because what I've started to recognize is you have all these different voices, you have all these different strings that are being pulled in your direction.

00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:35.359
You have to have a you have to find a way to be efficient and to give everybody the appropriate just everything.

00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:44.559
You got to give them your attention at that time, and so that that was the biggest thing for me is really trying to understand how am I going to manage all this at one time.

00:21:44.720 --> 00:21:51.680
It's putting the right people in the right places, setting up my own leader standard words so that I can be successful.

00:21:51.920 --> 00:21:53.359
Yeah, that's amazing, man.

00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:55.359
And you nailed it, like it's complicated.

00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:59.519
So for the listener out there, these are it's a clear.

00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:04.240
Map, I'll say, but you don't know what it feels like till you walk the past.

00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:07.839
And so, like time blocking 100%.

00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:10.400
But it's not that easy, right?

00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:14.319
And I think I'll I'll I'm gonna pick on this because I know how valuable it is.

00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:22.079
It's like going through and blocking out my calendar and saying I'm gonna do X and I'm gonna do Y, I'm gonna give this thing an hour, this thing 90 minutes, this thing 15.

00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:23.920
That's easy.

00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:40.960
Actually, doing it is hard because, like you said, there's issues, there's problems, there's a perceived emergencies, real emergencies, family life like all of those things are pulling, and then there's me because I'm a scatter brain, I like to have fun and I want to play.

00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:45.440
It's not time to play, you got to finish and get your work done, and so yeah, time blocking.

00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:53.759
But so, first building the habit to do that regularly, because as our you know, I see this a lot in the time management workshops that I do.

00:22:54.000 --> 00:23:01.920
The younger cats, the younglings that still, you know, they're strapping young men and women, and they're like, What are you why y'all keep talking about calendar?

00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:03.680
Is it just a boomer thing?

00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:09.119
And I'm like, Well, here's the thing, and I had to think about like wow, they don't use their calendar at all.

00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:12.559
And I'm like, Okay, Jess, when you were 20, neither did you.

00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:14.079
I didn't have to.

00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:18.319
My foreman told me what I needed to do, and I did it.

00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:25.839
Like, I didn't have to about multiple projects, direct reports, like community involvement.

00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:33.359
I just went to work, put the stuff in I was supposed to put in, and then tried not to get arrested at night so I could go back to work the next day.

00:23:33.519 --> 00:23:35.680
That was my level of responsibility.

00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:41.920
But now, my goodness, if I don't use my calendar, I'm a mess and I underserve people.

00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:48.960
So I had to build that skill and then the discipline to like, no, to your point earlier, is like, no, no, no.

00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:57.279
I'm gonna do this thing and I'm gonna give it the appropriate focus, I'm gonna give it the right level of intensity because it may only be a 30-minute conversation.

00:23:57.599 --> 00:24:12.960
Yeah, but I got to give it everything I got so that it's meaningful and impactful, and then the next thing is gonna have the same level of intensity so that I can execute and keep those balls rolling while fielding the damn curveballs and emergencies, etc.

00:24:13.440 --> 00:24:14.240
Yeah, absolutely.

00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:21.599
And what was a big driver in that is you know, in the field, you're so used to handling with people on a day-to-day basis.

00:24:21.759 --> 00:24:27.119
I say this, it's easy not to let people down because you're so accessible, you're there, you can meet them where they're at.

00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:32.079
But as you grow and as you go through different channels, you know, you might get feedback.

00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:34.079
Oh, he doesn't talk to me anymore, right?

00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:38.000
Or oh, he doesn't meet this anymore, he's not this, or whatever.

00:24:38.160 --> 00:24:39.519
So you get these different things.

00:24:39.680 --> 00:24:53.599
And so when you start to understand that people are your greatest asset, and you have to establish lanes to keep that communication so they still feel valued, like you can still provide a lot of impact, right?

00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:56.480
And so it does it take work, absolutely.

00:24:56.720 --> 00:24:58.079
Is it a learning progress?

00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:11.920
Absolutely, but when you're intentional, you're consistent, and you allow your you allow yourself a space to set up these processes so that you can achieve good things, it makes a world of difference, absolutely 100%.

00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:25.359
And I wanna there's two points I want to make that's really important because I believe everybody has the capacity or potential to advance and be in leadership roles.

00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:30.720
That's not the same as everybody wants to do it, right?

00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:52.000
If you want to advance and get bigger titles and bigger dollars and more responsibility, you're gonna have to get good at dealing with people, aligning people, assessing talent, managing like performance management, writing people up, firing people, and like they don't tell you that, right?

00:25:52.079 --> 00:26:05.680
I remember I want to be a foreman because all they do is eat tacos and go to meetings, and then I was a floor, like, oh my god, there's so many different like those massive amounts of responsibilities and a whole new skill set I needed to build.

00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:15.839
So, like, folks, if you want to advance, be ready to learn and experience a lot of pain and friction because it's not easy.

00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:24.720
The second point you made was about some bad leaders, and I think I heard you say something like, I learned what I didn't want to be.

00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:28.400
I learned, okay, I'm not gonna be like that kind of leader.

00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:38.000
What's your advice for somebody coming up that thinks they want to take the next or that's in a situation where the leadership is less than awesome?

00:26:38.319 --> 00:26:41.839
What kind of advice or insight would you give them, Gary?

00:26:42.880 --> 00:26:44.799
That's an interesting question, right?

00:26:45.039 --> 00:26:50.720
Because no matter where you go in in this industry, there you're always going to find something.

00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:53.759
You're always there's always something within a company.

00:26:54.000 --> 00:27:01.279
You want to be treated the best, you want the best for your family, you want to create a good environment, you want to be in a good environment.

00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:06.240
But the reality of the situation is it's not always like that, no matter where you go.

00:27:06.400 --> 00:27:13.279
And every company struggles with something, but as long as you are grounded, right?

00:27:13.440 --> 00:27:20.559
As long as you can find certain things within that company to learn and add to your tool belt, you'll be successful.

00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:31.839
When you come at it with a difference and you're not so critical, it's because some processes might have already been set up before that leader above you was in place.

00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:35.440
And so you have to see around certain things in certain situations.

00:27:35.599 --> 00:27:42.640
So when you come with the learning mindset and say, hey, look, this is a situation I can learn from this.

00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:48.000
Whether I'm learning how to do something good, I don't learn how to do something bad, you're still winning.

00:27:48.160 --> 00:27:50.720
At the end of the day, you're still advancing, you're still growing.

00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:55.440
And going back to a minute ago, what you said, that's what's so great about construction.

00:27:55.759 --> 00:28:01.599
There, there are people who want to advance, there are people who want to grow and do big things, and that's okay.

00:28:01.759 --> 00:28:06.079
But there's also a place for those who like to do really well in one thing.

00:28:06.319 --> 00:28:12.319
You want to be a welder for the rest of your life, you want to be a crane operator the rest of your life, be the best that you can be forever.

00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:13.440
And that's okay.

00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:14.240
That's okay.

00:28:14.319 --> 00:28:20.400
There is a place for those people, there is a need for those people together as a construction industry.

00:28:20.559 --> 00:28:21.839
That's what makes us strong.

00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:25.039
Understanding that you don't have to be perfect.

00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:26.400
Yeah, man.

00:28:26.640 --> 00:28:27.599
10, 4.

00:28:27.759 --> 00:28:31.920
Oh, it reminds me of Kelly James welder, by the way.

00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:39.279
We started a Foreman training program, and he said, Yes, I don't want to do all this stupid freaking paperwork.

00:28:39.359 --> 00:28:40.640
I'm like, okay.

00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:45.839
I said, Well, you don't have to do it, but foreman do.

00:28:46.799 --> 00:28:54.799
And he said, Okay, well, if I'm not gonna do it, will I get fired?

00:28:55.039 --> 00:28:59.519
And I said, Hell no, Kelly, you're the best damn welder we got.

00:28:59.599 --> 00:29:00.880
We still need you, bro.

00:29:01.200 --> 00:29:02.559
He said, Awesome.

00:29:02.799 --> 00:29:06.079
He says, Okay, well, if I'm not gonna do it, I'm not gonna get fired.

00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:07.599
Do I still need to be in this class?

00:29:07.680 --> 00:29:10.480
I said, No, sir, you don't.

00:29:11.359 --> 00:29:24.400
And it was interesting because I totally didn't expect that conversation, but just that quick, I'm like, oh wow, I think we're doing a good thing by helping people understand this is like the minimum expectation.

00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:30.880
And if you can't commit to this, no problem, go back to work because this is what our expectation is.

00:29:31.119 --> 00:29:38.720
And also, I want to highlight for the listener, keep the learner's mindset because there's always something to learn.

00:29:38.880 --> 00:29:47.680
And I'll add most of the lessons that like the really meaningful, deep lessons I've had, they always came in the worst situations.

00:29:47.839 --> 00:30:01.599
So if you're in a bad situation, start really looking for those lessons because there's some gems, even though it stinks and it's less than amazing, there are some gems that you can carry with you through life and help other people going forward.

00:30:01.759 --> 00:30:03.279
Do you agree, my friend?

00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:04.160
Absolutely.

00:30:04.319 --> 00:30:06.319
I mean, that's just life to a T, right there.

00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:09.599
You know, you got to have that mental fortitude to just press through.

00:30:09.759 --> 00:30:11.759
I mean, it doesn't matter what life goes at you.

00:30:11.920 --> 00:30:13.680
You can either, you know, sit down or get up.

00:30:13.839 --> 00:30:19.119
I mean, what you make of the situation is it's how what's going to determine the outcome, right?

00:30:19.279 --> 00:30:21.440
You have to have that learning mentality.

00:30:21.599 --> 00:30:27.119
We don't want to be a victim, we don't want to have that mentality, we want to be overcovered no matter what we think.

00:30:27.440 --> 00:30:30.000
So absolutely 10, 4.

00:30:30.160 --> 00:30:30.720
All right.

00:30:31.119 --> 00:30:36.079
So then you jumped into the traveling superintendent world.

00:30:36.240 --> 00:30:37.599
What was that like?

00:31:40.759 --> 00:31:42.920
So, traveling superintendent was fun.

00:31:43.000 --> 00:31:43.640
I'll be honest.

00:31:43.720 --> 00:31:48.440
I mean, that that was probably my favorite part of my whole career so far.

00:31:48.600 --> 00:31:54.519
And the reason why I say that is because when you're out there in the field, well, I'll stick it, I'll take a step back.

00:31:54.680 --> 00:32:05.079
I took my wife and my three kids, I sold my house, bought a fifth wheel, took my wife and three kids, and thought that it would be the best thing to do to travel the country.

00:32:05.319 --> 00:32:13.799
That's you hear about traveling construction workers, and then you actually do it, and you start to meet people from all over the country.

00:32:13.960 --> 00:32:17.799
You start to see different things that you may have or never had the opportunity to see.

00:32:17.960 --> 00:32:25.000
You know, we got to go to DC, we got to go to Grand Tetons, do some work up in Idaho, you know, you're working in New Mexico, Florida.

00:32:25.160 --> 00:32:36.600
And so you're able to give your kids an experience that not a lot of people get to do, you know, and so we were very grateful that our kids got to experience that.

00:32:36.840 --> 00:32:50.840
So it was a really good time because for me, I saw a lot more camaraderie in the field because you start to understand you're spending more time with your co-workers than your own family at times.

00:32:50.920 --> 00:32:57.000
Or when, as a superintendent, you're leading men and women who are out there without their families, right?

00:32:57.160 --> 00:33:00.039
And so you represent a family to them.

00:33:00.200 --> 00:33:05.640
And so that that kind of plays into the type of environment that you're giving to your people as well, right?

00:33:05.799 --> 00:33:07.880
You want to create good bathrooms, right?

00:33:07.960 --> 00:33:15.000
You want to create a good lunch space, you want to create a clean site for your people, you want them to have clear expectations.

00:33:15.160 --> 00:33:32.519
But that was the best thing for me as a superintendent, just the experience, whether it's at a camper, at the end of the day, after a long, hard day by campfire or coming together with people you may have ever known before on a specific project and building a team to make something come to your fruition.

00:33:32.920 --> 00:33:41.000
So there's a lot of different things as a traveling superintendent that you get to experience that you may not have that as a local worker.

00:33:41.240 --> 00:33:41.720
Yeah.

00:33:41.960 --> 00:33:54.519
Well, one, Gary, I'm gonna give you some props because I've worked with I've never been a traveling superintendent, but I've worked on projects where the superintendent was traveling for a period of time in my career.

00:33:54.600 --> 00:33:55.880
We had a lot of federal work.

00:33:55.960 --> 00:34:02.519
They're spent a lot of money here in San Antonio on the bases, and most of those superintendents were traveling superintendents, and they didn't give a shit.

00:34:02.680 --> 00:34:08.360
Like they were in and out, they treated us like garbage, and I kind of understand it, right?

00:34:08.440 --> 00:34:38.679
Like, they don't need to invest in the relationship because they're leaving town at the end of the project, and they treated us like that, and so I need to give you props because you said, and it's true, you represent a family to all the people that are traveling to these projects, and we all know it that's in the construction industry, we spend way more time with the people that work on the job side, and it's not synonymous to construction, but that's my industry, right?

00:34:39.239 --> 00:34:44.119
Than we do with our own families and the things that we love and care about.

00:34:44.440 --> 00:34:48.519
And so, where did that awareness come from, Gary?

00:34:48.679 --> 00:34:54.440
To say, wait a minute, I'm the best representation of a family for these men and women.

00:34:54.519 --> 00:34:55.559
I need to do it right.

00:34:55.639 --> 00:34:56.759
Where did that come from?

00:34:57.000 --> 00:34:58.279
And that's part of my journey.

00:34:58.440 --> 00:35:02.279
So growing up, I didn't have the best representation as a failing growing up.

00:35:02.440 --> 00:35:16.199
And so going into fabrication, going into the union, going into traveling superintendent type work, I recognized what I valued and I started to understand that I wasn't the only one that went through that.

00:35:16.360 --> 00:35:18.039
You're gonna have the dickheads, right?

00:35:18.119 --> 00:35:24.920
You're gonna have the guys who are mean, you're gonna have the guys who are gonna cuss you out, tear you down for not doing anything right.

00:35:25.159 --> 00:35:33.400
But I had already gone through something in my life and made bad decisions that allowed me to have respect for people.

00:35:33.559 --> 00:35:35.639
So I naturally understood that.

00:35:35.800 --> 00:35:50.440
And so I felt like it was a disservice if I wasn't giving my people that part of me and giving the construction industry because you're right, as a traveling worker, these people are coming and going.

00:35:50.599 --> 00:36:02.599
They may not be on your project for long, they might not come on full term as your as an employee, but the impact that you've made is going to translate for the rest of their life next to the next company.

00:36:02.760 --> 00:36:05.079
So, what type of legacy do you want to leave?

00:36:05.240 --> 00:36:06.920
You can lower your standards, right?

00:36:07.000 --> 00:36:17.639
You can lower yourself and have that no give a shit attitude, or you can step up, set the expectation, serve with excellence, and try to change the industry.

00:36:17.800 --> 00:36:20.519
And that's the mentality I had along the way.

00:36:21.559 --> 00:36:22.599
And I love it.

00:36:22.760 --> 00:36:25.880
And I'm gonna read between the lines a similar path as me.

00:36:25.960 --> 00:36:33.240
There's guy, I swear, I did some training recently, and there were a couple of guys in the room, they're superintendents now.

00:36:33.720 --> 00:36:48.199
They met me when they first entered the industry as apprentices, and I was a shithead foreman superintendent, and my style and approach to managing work and leading teams was well, just say less than soft.

00:36:49.400 --> 00:36:59.000
And they're listening to me talk about you know, respecting people and investing in the individual and appreciating the men and women doing the work, and they're like, Who the hell are you?

00:36:59.159 --> 00:37:11.079
That's not the guy I remember, but it can't my shift happened, you know, it was it took a minute, but as a result of learning the hard way of I mean, I was like straight up.

00:37:11.240 --> 00:37:17.960
I remember one day I was asking, like, man, I never get invited to lunch or like to hang out with the guys after work.

00:37:18.199 --> 00:37:23.880
My guys know the painters and the form workers and the carpenter, like they know everybody on site.

00:37:24.119 --> 00:37:30.119
I don't know anybody, and I'm like, I asked one of the guys, I said, No, like, why doesn't you know everybody?

00:37:30.199 --> 00:37:35.000
And you're getting your work done, so I'm not gonna pick on you, but I'm here too, and I don't really know anybody.

00:37:35.079 --> 00:37:37.400
He's like, Yeah, Jesse, because you're an ass.

00:37:37.800 --> 00:37:45.960
Like, you're right, you only talk to people if you need something from them, and if you don't, you just blow them off and treat them like crap.

00:37:46.039 --> 00:37:57.079
I'm like, Oh, and I just thought if I push hard and firm and you know, all of that's the best way to get stuff from people, and I could get production, but it was sustained, it wasn't sustainable.

00:37:57.240 --> 00:37:59.559
As soon as I left, whatever.

00:37:59.800 --> 00:38:03.639
Then I shifted, and I'm like, oh my god, I got friends now.

00:38:03.800 --> 00:38:08.440
People tell me hi, damn it, and it changed me entirely going forward, man.

00:38:08.599 --> 00:38:10.440
So I feel you on that.

00:38:10.599 --> 00:38:26.679
Now, when he went into the superintendent role, that's a I would say a big giant jump in responsibility, but more importantly, there's this thing between our ears that sometimes brings doubt.

00:38:26.760 --> 00:38:43.240
So when you went from working with the Mealwright union, the carpenter's union, to being a superintendent, were there any was there any mental baggage that you had to get wrestle with to lead that project, to be the superintendent?

00:38:43.480 --> 00:38:49.159
Yeah, I mean, I think that's understandable with any position whenever you grow and you get elevated.

00:38:49.480 --> 00:38:53.000
I had worked my way up in the union and became a foreman.

00:38:53.079 --> 00:38:56.280
You know, our foreman then were like general foremans in the industry.

00:38:56.440 --> 00:39:02.599
So whenever I shifted to open shop and went into a superintendent role, there was a lot of curveballs, right?

00:39:02.679 --> 00:39:06.039
There was a lot of things that we didn't do that I had to adjust.

00:39:06.199 --> 00:39:11.880
And I think with that mental fortitude, like you have to be able to ask questions, right?

00:39:12.039 --> 00:39:18.119
When you don't know the answers, and you're gonna make mistakes, you're gonna do the wrong thing, you're gonna get yelled at by your boss.

00:39:18.199 --> 00:39:22.519
You're but you have to be able to weather that, you have to let that just fall off the back.

00:39:22.840 --> 00:39:31.400
If you're committed, you have to ask questions, you have to find people like-minded and put pieces around you so that you can be successful.

00:39:31.559 --> 00:39:35.320
But absolutely, you you have that imposter syndrome sometimes.

00:39:35.480 --> 00:39:41.559
You go through these situations where you feel like you may be unqualified and it's a mental inner struggle.

00:39:41.720 --> 00:39:43.320
And I but I think that's normal.

00:39:43.480 --> 00:39:45.320
That's us being stressed.

00:39:45.480 --> 00:39:54.440
And I think everybody who's been put into a higher position will go through that, or for the most part, you will feel inadequate, you will feel less than.

00:40:04.360 --> 00:40:08.280
What can I do today that I could that could do better than yesterday?

00:40:08.440 --> 00:40:09.800
And I just always carried that.

00:40:10.199 --> 00:40:23.159
Yeah, it's a struggle, it's normal, it's something that I don't want to keep repeating myself, but yeah, it's something internally that you have to go through, but you have to have people around you to help you get through that.

00:40:23.480 --> 00:40:24.920
Oh man, I agree.

00:40:25.079 --> 00:40:37.639
And for folks out there, if you're feeling inadequate and having the second guess in and the imposter syndrome, any and all of the above, just know that's evidence that you're human.

00:40:37.880 --> 00:40:38.360
That's right.

00:40:39.000 --> 00:40:44.360
Absolutely, it's part of the growth, it's part of the it's just part of the damn territory.

00:40:44.440 --> 00:40:50.599
And I love that you're vulnerable, willing to share that because too many people, and I'm one of them, right?

00:40:50.760 --> 00:40:54.360
I denied it and I stuffed it, and really I diluted it.

00:40:54.599 --> 00:40:56.679
This was back before I got sober.

00:40:56.840 --> 00:41:04.039
Like the only way I could deal with it or knew how to deal with it was drinking, and it was not a situation for me, right?

00:41:04.119 --> 00:41:07.880
When I finally came to terms with man, don't nobody know everything.

00:41:08.199 --> 00:41:13.400
We're all figuring it out and just trying to get by today, it was a big deal.

00:41:13.720 --> 00:41:21.159
Yeah, and you swallow that, you know, with the same thing with drinking, you know, you it you deal with certain things how you deal with certain things.

00:41:21.240 --> 00:41:22.199
Do they make them right?

00:41:22.360 --> 00:41:23.400
No, they don't.

00:41:23.559 --> 00:41:30.599
And but every nobody expects the best, like that you are gonna hit the ground running.

00:41:30.679 --> 00:41:35.159
There's gonna be potholes, there's gonna be road bumps, and you know, that you're gonna have to go through.

00:41:35.240 --> 00:41:41.320
Just know the people above you who are elevating you should recognize that or are recognizing that.

00:41:41.480 --> 00:41:43.320
And so you don't have to keep it in.

00:41:43.480 --> 00:41:44.920
I mean, I can see that, right?

00:41:45.079 --> 00:41:46.440
I've gone through that at certain times.

00:41:46.519 --> 00:41:51.880
You want to make a good impression, you want to do a good job, you want to make them think you're capable.

00:41:52.119 --> 00:41:55.240
But at the end of the day, I believe you're doing one of two things.

00:41:55.400 --> 00:41:59.559
One, you're challenging yourself, but you're also hindering yourself from growth.

00:41:59.720 --> 00:42:01.240
So ask for help, right?

00:42:01.480 --> 00:42:03.880
Ask your leaders who put you in place.

00:42:04.199 --> 00:42:05.400
What can I do to grow?

00:42:05.480 --> 00:42:06.119
What am I missing?

00:42:06.280 --> 00:42:07.159
What are the processes?

00:42:07.240 --> 00:42:08.440
How do I set up a project?

00:42:08.599 --> 00:42:09.880
How do I put this in?

00:42:09.960 --> 00:42:12.920
How do I, you know, figure out my Costco or whatever?

00:42:13.079 --> 00:42:16.199
How do I, you know, how am I going to generate a three-week look ahead?

00:42:16.280 --> 00:42:17.800
You know, something as simple as that.

00:42:17.960 --> 00:42:20.679
You know, what documentation do you guys use?

00:42:20.840 --> 00:42:22.519
Do I need to do a toolbox talk?

00:42:22.599 --> 00:42:23.400
When do I do that?

00:42:23.559 --> 00:42:27.720
There's a lot of different things that you have to start understanding and asking questions.

00:42:28.039 --> 00:42:41.159
So when shit hits the fan, you're doing your job because there's going to be a moment where you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing, and it's because you didn't ask the question or they didn't properly tell you and inform you what you should be doing.

00:42:41.320 --> 00:42:49.720
And I think that's how you and I connected with Death with Death Builder is saying, Hey, we need something to teach these trades.

00:42:49.880 --> 00:42:53.960
We need leadership type formats, three-week look aheads.

00:42:54.039 --> 00:42:56.119
What can we do to work through our people?

00:42:56.360 --> 00:42:58.199
Because we weren't shown the way.

00:42:58.280 --> 00:43:03.960
You know, we had to cowboy our way, we had to figure out ways to make expectations meet.

00:43:04.039 --> 00:43:09.240
And luckily to you, and shout out to you and what you're doing, you saw that gap, right?

00:43:09.320 --> 00:43:10.599
And you filled that gap.

00:43:10.760 --> 00:43:16.360
And you made it in a way that it was digestible, it was easy, and it could be have an immediate impact.

00:43:16.519 --> 00:43:22.199
And I saw that in my own life in a few of my projects, and but that just brings it full circle, right?

00:43:22.280 --> 00:43:25.880
There, there's gonna be struggle when you grow, and that's okay.

00:43:26.119 --> 00:43:31.880
Admit that, know that, and know that there's people out there trying to make a change, like Jesse, right?

00:43:31.960 --> 00:43:36.519
Who are putting things in place so that we can all grow as a construction industry.

00:43:36.679 --> 00:43:38.519
Absolutely, yeah, man.

00:43:38.599 --> 00:43:39.320
Oh, I love it.

00:43:39.400 --> 00:43:47.480
So there's two things that you said that I want to make sure people hear and it and because it was the hardest phrase I had to learn.

00:43:47.639 --> 00:43:49.639
One was I need help.

00:43:50.119 --> 00:43:53.960
I could not, it took me five years to learn how to say that.

00:43:54.039 --> 00:44:00.760
Like, I'm I would just stay up all night banging my head against the wall instead of saying, I need help.

00:44:01.000 --> 00:44:03.559
The other is I don't know.

00:44:04.519 --> 00:44:15.159
It's okay, like really those six words, I need help and I don't know, completely transform my mental wellness and the trajectory of my career.

00:44:15.320 --> 00:44:21.240
The second point you made earlier was you said you compete against yourself, right?

00:44:21.720 --> 00:44:35.400
And I and again, that that shift, when I finally had that awakening, I'm hitting it again because I know that there's listeners out there that are hard charging, ambitious, hardworking, very, very competitive.

00:44:35.720 --> 00:44:39.159
I was the same and I was competing against everybody.

00:44:39.320 --> 00:44:45.480
And man, the amount of friction it took for me to advance and grow and learn was tremendous.

00:44:45.720 --> 00:44:54.519
When I shifted and started competing against me and finding people to collaborate with, the game changed, man.

00:44:54.840 --> 00:44:56.039
The game changed.

00:44:56.199 --> 00:45:01.720
So the best person to be competing against is the person you were yesterday.

00:45:02.360 --> 00:45:03.320
What do you think about that?

00:45:03.880 --> 00:45:04.360
Absolutely.

00:45:04.440 --> 00:45:06.199
I mean, that's a motto I live by every day.

00:45:06.280 --> 00:45:11.720
And what I tell my guys right now is you know, you can't change anybody else around you.

00:45:11.880 --> 00:45:16.840
You can't change what they're going to do, the decisions that they're going to make, but you can change yourself.

00:45:16.920 --> 00:45:21.480
You can control your actions, how you represent the company, how you represent yourself.

00:45:21.720 --> 00:45:24.519
And absolutely, how can I get better?

00:45:24.840 --> 00:45:25.240
Yeah.

00:45:25.400 --> 00:45:25.800
Yeah.

00:45:26.199 --> 00:45:26.679
Amazing.

00:45:26.760 --> 00:45:27.400
All right, man.

00:45:27.559 --> 00:45:32.440
So we talked about the early years, we talked about the road warrior years.

00:45:32.599 --> 00:45:34.360
And then you went into training.

00:45:34.519 --> 00:45:35.400
What the hell?

00:45:35.639 --> 00:45:37.960
Yeah, it was a combination of a few things, Jesse.

00:45:38.199 --> 00:45:45.800
There, and I started to recognize like my son needed a lot of help, and being on the road just wasn't the best thing for us.

00:45:46.039 --> 00:45:54.920
And we there was also a gap in the where I work right now at HIMI Systems that hey, we need a training department.

00:45:55.079 --> 00:45:56.360
We need to help our people.

00:45:56.519 --> 00:45:58.280
The construction industry is growing.

00:45:58.440 --> 00:46:00.119
There's this, that, and the other.

00:46:00.280 --> 00:46:05.240
And it just made like a perfect fit for me to come in because of the field experience that I had.

00:46:05.400 --> 00:46:11.960
And so that's where I got plugged in and segueed into trying to develop some training for our workforce.

00:46:12.119 --> 00:46:13.079
But absolutely.

00:46:13.320 --> 00:46:14.599
Okay, I love this.

00:46:14.760 --> 00:46:15.720
Similar, right?

00:46:15.880 --> 00:46:19.240
I was in training for a while now, and it's kind of what my business is built around.

00:46:19.480 --> 00:46:24.360
How did you go about outlining what training, where to start?

00:46:24.599 --> 00:46:30.119
What would you have told yourself back when you started, when you made the transition into training?

00:46:30.199 --> 00:46:36.199
What did you learn along the way that you would go back and say, hey, Gary, if you're gonna do this, start here?

00:46:36.440 --> 00:46:41.320
I mean, honestly, it was a very hard path the first couple months, right?

00:46:41.400 --> 00:46:49.480
Because going from the field mindset, you don't know anything about what it takes to set up a training department, what it's gonna take to reach your people.

00:46:49.639 --> 00:47:02.519
And so I'm spending the first 90 days trying to research what works, what's not working, what are other people doing, and trying to source that out and find something that's really gonna help us grow as a company.

00:47:02.679 --> 00:47:06.280
And so I started to understand, okay, let me take a step back.

00:47:06.440 --> 00:47:09.720
I need to assess the gaps in our workforce.

00:47:09.880 --> 00:47:11.480
Where are we failing the most?

00:47:11.720 --> 00:47:15.480
And so I just started hitting every project we had, every project we had.

00:47:15.559 --> 00:47:24.760
And I went all over the country and I started to assess every craft and every discipline, every person, all the way up from apprentice up to superintendent.

00:47:24.920 --> 00:47:34.840
And with that data, I was able to sit back and say, okay, maybe we need help in layout, maybe we need help in rigging, maybe we need help in this, maybe we're failing in communication, right?

00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:42.679
And so I could once I took all that in, I was able to put training in place to help meet that, right?

00:47:42.760 --> 00:47:44.440
So that was my first approach.

00:47:46.039 --> 00:48:18.599
Applause again, because I've been in situations and come in to help situations where they didn't do the leader work, and what you just described is doing the leader work of going out to the workforce where they're at and assess, see firsthand what are the gaps, what are the ones that are costing us the most money, which ones are going to give us the most juice for the squeeze, and then coming up with the plan where too many people do it the other way around.

00:48:18.920 --> 00:48:25.720
I, you know, I chat GPT'd it, or you know, this is what I've done before, this is what I these are the best practices.

00:48:25.880 --> 00:48:40.440
We've got curriculum design and all these other things that are important, but if that's the first step without actually understanding the current condition, whatever's designed kind of misses the mark and becomes this kind of okay, I got to go to this training.

00:48:40.760 --> 00:48:51.079
My assumption is because of the research that you did, when you started delivering the training, your workforce was like, Thank goodness, where has this been all my life?

00:48:51.240 --> 00:48:53.400
Is that kind of close to what you experienced?

00:48:53.639 --> 00:48:54.119
Absolutely.

00:48:54.199 --> 00:48:55.720
I mean, we had really good feedback.

00:48:55.880 --> 00:49:04.039
Everybody understood that there was something needed, there was something missing, and it wasn't just with us, it's with the construction industry in a whole, right?

00:49:04.119 --> 00:49:06.280
There's not a lot of resources.

00:49:06.440 --> 00:49:13.000
There is a lot of good resources, but we're there's still a big push to bring that training to the workforce.

00:49:13.320 --> 00:49:32.119
And there's so much speed to market right now, there's so much construction going on right now, whether it's data centers, whether it's pulp and paper, whether it's you know, any type of manufacturing right now, with everything going on, with things being brought back into the states, that there's not enough people in the workforce to man these projects up.

00:49:32.280 --> 00:49:51.800
And so we're gathering people, we're going to different places and we're just hiring Jack and Sally on the side of the road or whatever as an industry, and we end up getting in trouble by OSHA incidents or you know, equipment failure, people running into things and making mistakes, and it's costing the industry a lot of money, right?

00:49:52.039 --> 00:49:54.360
And so we recognize that.

00:49:54.440 --> 00:50:00.840
And so we said, Hey, we're gonna get ahead of this, we're gonna try to make a good effort, be intentional, and put these things in place.

00:50:01.000 --> 00:50:03.800
But uh yeah, our people absolutely they loved it.

00:50:03.960 --> 00:50:06.119
People are hungry to your listeners out there.

00:50:06.360 --> 00:50:11.400
People want to learn, they want people who are gonna pour into them, they want the skills.

00:50:11.559 --> 00:50:19.480
The people, this generation that's coming up even right now, this young generation, they want to learn and retain this information, but who's gonna do it?

00:50:19.639 --> 00:50:22.440
Who's gonna take on the mantle and step up and train it?

00:50:22.519 --> 00:50:22.840
Right?

00:50:22.920 --> 00:50:24.519
That's what I that's what I'm seeing.

00:50:24.599 --> 00:50:26.920
Who's gonna take this baton and run?

00:50:27.079 --> 00:50:28.840
And so we're doing that.

00:50:29.000 --> 00:50:29.559
We did that.

00:50:29.880 --> 00:50:36.679
And we're in our lane and doing everything that we can to help advance the industry right now, and we're just trying to meet people where they're at.

00:50:36.840 --> 00:50:38.039
So yeah, they love it.

00:50:38.199 --> 00:50:38.679
I love it.

00:50:38.840 --> 00:50:41.960
All right, so I'm gonna ask a nosy, selfish question, Gary.

00:50:42.119 --> 00:50:43.000
Do you mind?

00:50:43.240 --> 00:50:44.280
Yep, go for it.

00:50:44.599 --> 00:50:48.920
Okay, so you and I first connected around the planning toolbox.

00:50:49.240 --> 00:50:50.440
Was that helpful?

00:50:50.679 --> 00:50:52.760
And where is it at now?

00:50:53.720 --> 00:50:56.679
So, with that, what we did is we broke that down.

00:50:56.920 --> 00:51:00.039
I was on a project and it got accelerated, right?

00:51:00.280 --> 00:51:10.119
And I needed something simple, fast to give to my team that would bring clarity and to a team that may not have had a lot of experience with planning.

00:51:10.280 --> 00:51:12.360
And so I needed something quick.

00:51:12.599 --> 00:51:19.559
And I saw what you were doing, and I was able to use that in a way to efficiently break down the project, right?

00:51:19.720 --> 00:51:27.880
And also get them involved in a way that wasn't so complex, like a P6, you know, schedule or anything like that.

00:51:28.199 --> 00:51:34.039
It was real, it was tangible, and it was something that could be put in place right now.

00:51:34.280 --> 00:51:35.880
It can make change now.

00:51:36.039 --> 00:51:39.639
And we accelerated that schedule, we made our margins, we did a tremendous job.

00:51:39.720 --> 00:51:44.840
We we use that thing on that project, and we still use it on our projects to this day.

00:51:45.000 --> 00:51:49.639
So, right now we teach fundamentals of crew leadership, right, through SCCER.

00:51:50.119 --> 00:51:55.639
And there's a portion in that where you're talking about three-week look aheads and you're teaching your leaders how to do that.

00:51:55.800 --> 00:52:06.199
And so we've kind of meshed the two and kind of tailored our own with their content in a way to promote that this is how HIMI Systems does this, right?

00:52:06.280 --> 00:52:10.039
Or this is how we build out a weekly look ahead or whatever.

00:52:10.280 --> 00:52:12.519
So it's really practical, right?

00:52:12.599 --> 00:52:14.360
And it helps us in a really good way.

00:52:14.519 --> 00:52:15.480
So I love it, man.

00:52:15.559 --> 00:52:16.679
It's phenomenal.

00:52:17.000 --> 00:52:19.480
Dude, that makes me so happy.

00:52:19.720 --> 00:52:21.960
Just that it helped, right?

00:52:22.199 --> 00:52:25.240
One, that it helped you, like, because that's that's the goal.

00:52:25.400 --> 00:52:39.000
I want to help somebody solve a problem in a simple way, and the fact that y'all took it further and you know massaged it and customized it to fit your business and further help your workforce.

00:52:39.159 --> 00:52:40.440
That's my dream, man.

00:52:40.519 --> 00:52:43.960
So thank you for giving me the update because that is the ultimate.

00:52:44.199 --> 00:52:53.320
Now, I want to make a point, and I know you agree, but for the listener out there that doesn't, that's not getting it, we don't have enough people to do the work we're doing.

00:52:53.639 --> 00:52:55.720
There's a bunch of people leaving.

00:52:55.960 --> 00:52:57.880
We got a whole hell of a lot of work.

00:52:58.039 --> 00:53:02.360
We have a suicide epidemic, mental wellness, substance abuse stuff.

00:53:02.519 --> 00:53:05.639
We got a lot against us in our industry.

00:53:05.880 --> 00:53:17.079
That being said, because of that, the decision makers out there that are actually investing in their people, providing them the training, the growth experiences, etc.

00:53:18.039 --> 00:53:23.559
The people that make their people feel appreciated are gonna win the talent game.

00:53:23.720 --> 00:53:26.039
Like 100%, no doubt.

00:53:26.119 --> 00:53:26.920
I mean, I'm feeling it.

00:53:27.000 --> 00:53:28.440
I'm hell right now, guy like shit.

00:53:28.519 --> 00:53:36.440
Man, maybe I need an application so I can come be your helper or something because of the shift now and the investment y'all are making in your people.

00:53:37.000 --> 00:53:44.280
And we nobody's gonna get away with competitive salary and benefits anymore because everybody's giving that.

00:53:44.519 --> 00:53:48.280
It comes down to the investment you make in your damn people.

00:53:48.440 --> 00:53:50.119
So start investing in your people.

00:53:50.280 --> 00:53:52.280
What do you what did I miss, Gary?

00:53:53.400 --> 00:53:55.559
No, and I mean, that's absolutely right.

00:53:55.720 --> 00:54:02.920
I mean, right now, now I did a paper a couple months ago, like 42 and a half percent of the industry is gonna be retired in 10 years.

00:54:03.079 --> 00:54:05.079
And who's gonna trade the next generation?

00:54:05.320 --> 00:54:06.920
You know, I mean, it's ridiculous.

00:54:07.079 --> 00:54:10.519
There's gonna be a significant gap, and we're gonna feel it.

00:54:10.599 --> 00:54:15.480
We may not be feeling it to the fullest extent right now, but I can tell you it's gaining lots, right?

00:54:15.559 --> 00:54:26.760
And we have to find people who are passionate about that and companies to put things in place to help bolster that and create a bridge and a pathways for people to grow.

00:54:26.920 --> 00:54:32.519
People want clarity, people want vision, people want tools, and let's give it to them, let's give it to them.

00:54:32.760 --> 00:54:35.000
This is the booming industry right now.

00:54:35.240 --> 00:54:36.840
Construction, I can tell you that.

00:54:38.599 --> 00:54:40.119
You're getting me fired up, brother.

00:54:40.679 --> 00:54:48.760
I applaud you for taking on the training and doing what you did because that's a very strange world, but it's a super impactful position.

00:54:49.000 --> 00:54:50.599
So props to you, man.

00:54:50.840 --> 00:54:56.760
Now, director of field operations, is it as easy as you thought it was gonna be?

00:54:57.559 --> 00:54:59.000
No, no, it's not at all.

00:54:59.159 --> 00:55:09.000
It's fun because it's challenging to me and it gives you a different perspective into the business, it gives you a different perspective into your people and where they're going.

00:55:09.159 --> 00:55:16.039
It's I'm new to this, it's something that I've only been doing for I would say two and a half months now, and I'm learning each and every day, right?

00:55:16.199 --> 00:55:17.480
So I'm right in the thick of it.

00:55:17.639 --> 00:55:20.840
I'm learning as I'm going, I'm taking heed to instruction.

00:55:21.000 --> 00:55:22.519
I'm in that process, right?

00:55:22.599 --> 00:55:31.159
I'm going through the potholes, I'm going through the bumps, I'm learning, but at the same time, I'm leading, I'm helping people, I'm maintaining that training mindset.

00:55:31.320 --> 00:55:37.720
Like right now, I'm out on a project for a couple months and I'm training the field supervision so that they can succeed.

00:55:37.880 --> 00:55:46.760
But now it's instead of going one at a time or a team of superintendents, now you're you're trying to develop a project, right?

00:55:46.840 --> 00:55:52.360
And you're trying to put that together for them so that it's the same thing as a general superintendent.

00:55:52.519 --> 00:55:54.039
The name's the same, it's synonymous.

00:55:54.280 --> 00:56:00.760
So you're making sure all the processes are intact, you know, everything from project setup to project closure.

00:56:00.920 --> 00:56:02.360
Are those processes set up?

00:56:02.519 --> 00:56:04.039
Are those tracked right now?

00:56:04.280 --> 00:56:12.119
And so it's just a different shift, but with the same mentality as people, and it's been phenomenal, it's been great.

00:56:12.199 --> 00:56:13.000
I love it.

00:56:13.240 --> 00:56:13.800
Man, good.

00:56:13.960 --> 00:56:16.119
I'm gonna say they picked the right guy for the job.

00:56:16.280 --> 00:56:19.480
I get to work with directors of operations and general superintendents.

00:56:19.639 --> 00:56:21.639
I'm like, oh, okay.

00:56:22.599 --> 00:56:26.679
But if there's a bunch, then I'm like, yeah, like Gary's got it going on.

00:56:26.840 --> 00:56:28.840
So, two things I want to state, folks.

00:56:28.920 --> 00:56:40.280
If you're out there and you have that level of responsibility and you're looking for some insight from somebody that I give the two thumbs up five stars on, hit Gary up.

00:56:40.360 --> 00:56:52.199
I'll make sure I leave your profile link for LinkedIn in the comments because I'm assuming that you would be not opposed to sharing your insight with folks that are in a similar situation.

00:56:52.440 --> 00:56:53.480
Absolutely.

00:56:53.800 --> 00:57:00.440
Now, secondly, if somebody was looking like, you know what, this Gary dude, I want to go work with them.

00:57:00.599 --> 00:57:01.800
How do we make that happen?

00:57:02.039 --> 00:57:05.800
Well, it can be on my LinkedIn page, or you can go to HimeSystems.com.

00:57:05.880 --> 00:57:07.159
That's where I work right now.

00:57:07.320 --> 00:57:12.199
We're always trying to attract top talent and young and younger generation that want to learn.

00:57:12.280 --> 00:57:15.079
We're doing a lot of good things here at HIMI Systems.

00:57:15.159 --> 00:57:18.519
And uh, yeah, we have a website, we have an employment place right there.

00:57:18.599 --> 00:57:19.639
We can go click on.

00:57:19.720 --> 00:57:22.119
Um, I'll say something else that we got coming out.

00:57:22.280 --> 00:57:25.559
We have a mobile training trailer that we're going to be launching very soon.

00:57:25.720 --> 00:57:30.599
And so if you see that thing riding down the highway with the QR code, that's a way to look at what we do.

00:57:30.679 --> 00:57:31.880
That's a way to apply.

00:57:32.039 --> 00:57:35.400
Just a little segue into that right now, a little promo.

00:57:35.559 --> 00:57:37.800
But yeah, go to HimySystems.com.

00:57:37.880 --> 00:57:39.240
You can apply for what we're doing.

00:57:39.400 --> 00:57:46.840
We're working in a lot of verticals right now, whether you want to get into ironworking, no right work, tight fitting, rigging.

00:57:47.000 --> 00:57:47.960
Like we do it all.

00:57:48.119 --> 00:57:48.920
Fabrication.

00:57:49.000 --> 00:57:52.360
There's a lot of different facets to construction that we touch.

00:57:52.519 --> 00:57:55.240
So you'll learn a lot more about who we are and what we do there.

00:57:55.320 --> 00:57:58.920
But if you want to reach out to me directly in LinkedIn, I'm always there.

00:57:59.079 --> 00:58:00.119
Also, get serious.

00:58:01.000 --> 00:58:01.400
10.

00:58:01.800 --> 00:58:03.079
Oh, dude, well done.

00:58:03.320 --> 00:58:04.519
Well done, brother.

00:58:04.760 --> 00:58:09.000
We're gonna have to talk, tell the marketing department like, look, this is how you do it.

00:58:09.480 --> 00:58:10.280
You did good, bro.

00:58:10.599 --> 00:58:15.880
And for you know I'm goofy and silly, but I'm trying, I still haven't figured it out.

00:58:16.039 --> 00:58:33.720
But I have this weird idea of what can I do to highlight the decision makers like you, so that people that are working in like less than awesome situations can find a company, a leader that can help them thrive and grow.

00:58:33.880 --> 00:58:46.760
Like, I want I'm like a I don't know, directory of some sort because I know for a fact, and you've I'm sure you've seen this, every company's website says really fancy, flowery shit.

00:58:47.400 --> 00:59:08.760
But when you get there, it ain't like the website said, and I'm here to say that working with people like you, knowing that you're there at Hemi Systems, like that to me is an indicator that there's at least a strand of it, probably more, given the level of responsibility you have now, and that your leadership said, Hey, Gary, we need you to do this.

00:59:08.920 --> 00:59:12.599
Those to me are all indicators of that's a damn good place to work.

00:59:12.760 --> 00:59:21.720
Well, you know, somehow, somehow, maybe eventually I'll figure out how to do that so that people have the amazing experience that construction can be.

00:59:22.039 --> 00:59:26.119
Because I know there's a bunch out there that are in a miserable situation, and we got to fix that.

00:59:26.199 --> 00:59:26.920
We just got to fix that.

00:59:27.079 --> 00:59:27.480
That's right.

00:59:27.639 --> 00:59:27.960
We do.

00:59:28.199 --> 00:59:34.360
So, this question before we get into the Grand Slam home run question, what did I forget to ask you, Gary?

00:59:34.840 --> 00:59:36.840
Man, I think you hit everything on the mark, Jesse.

00:59:37.000 --> 00:59:38.280
I think you did a really good job.

00:59:38.440 --> 00:59:41.400
This has been a phenomenal, you know, session with you.

00:59:41.480 --> 00:59:43.320
I think we had a really good conversation, man.

00:59:43.400 --> 00:59:44.920
We got into some really good stuff.

00:59:45.079 --> 00:59:52.119
We talked about some hard times, how to approach different situations, got a little vulnerable a little bit, talked about, hey, ask for help.

00:59:52.199 --> 00:59:53.480
It's okay to take a step back.

00:59:53.639 --> 00:59:54.920
You don't have all the answers.

00:59:55.159 --> 00:59:58.519
Talked about different pathways to constructions for everybody.

00:59:58.679 --> 01:00:01.720
You don't have to be wanting to climb that ladder.

01:00:01.960 --> 01:00:05.320
You can be okay with where you're at and be really good at that.

01:00:05.480 --> 01:00:07.400
There's different, there's a place for everybody.

01:00:07.559 --> 01:00:11.079
So I think, and Jesse, I think we covered a lot of different topics here.

01:00:11.159 --> 01:00:13.000
So fantastic, man.

01:00:13.079 --> 01:00:13.320
Good.

01:00:13.400 --> 01:00:13.720
All right.

01:00:13.800 --> 01:00:34.760
So then I'm excited to hear your answer to this question because because of your path, man, you started off as a fabricator, you've bounced around into, I would say, dramatically different roles and responsibilities, and like the evolution of your thinking and your focus on leaving the construction industry better than you found it gives me some anticipation.

01:00:34.920 --> 01:00:39.720
So here's the question What is the promise you are intended to be?

01:00:39.960 --> 01:00:53.639
The promise that I am intended to be long term, the legacy that I want to leave for my kids and for the industry is like you just said, leave the industry better than you found it.

01:00:53.800 --> 01:00:56.280
What are we going to do to shape the world?

01:00:56.519 --> 01:01:03.559
What are we going to do and put into place to change our environment, to help people, to serve people?

01:01:03.800 --> 01:01:08.039
Because at the end of the day, that's what it's about serving people.

01:01:08.280 --> 01:01:10.440
How can we help them grow?

01:01:10.760 --> 01:01:14.280
And you'll always fall asleep at night and you'll have a good night's rest.

01:01:14.440 --> 01:01:28.280
Most nights, if you have that mindset, knowing that you're going to when you pursue people, when you call out the good in people, right, and you capitalize on that, make them feel appreciated, recognize them, right?

01:01:28.440 --> 01:01:31.480
You're doing your job and you have nothing to worry about.

01:01:31.639 --> 01:01:38.679
I would say that my promise to is to leave the industry better than I found it and to continue to grow people.

01:01:39.880 --> 01:01:40.440
Gangster.

01:01:40.760 --> 01:01:41.400
I knew it.

01:01:41.480 --> 01:01:42.519
I love it, man.

01:01:42.760 --> 01:01:44.280
Did you have fun, Gary?

01:01:44.519 --> 01:01:45.320
It was fun, man.

01:01:45.400 --> 01:01:45.800
It was good.

01:01:45.960 --> 01:01:46.360
Interesting.

01:01:46.519 --> 01:01:47.240
It was fun, though.

01:01:47.400 --> 01:01:48.199
I thank you so much.

01:01:48.360 --> 01:01:49.480
It was an honor, Jesse.

01:01:49.800 --> 01:01:51.480
Always an honor when you're on the horn.

01:01:51.559 --> 01:01:53.320
I wish you luck with what you're doing.

01:01:53.400 --> 01:01:54.679
You're doing phenomenal things.

01:01:54.840 --> 01:01:56.920
I don't want to sidetrack that.

01:01:57.000 --> 01:02:00.920
I know you're trying to highlight me, but Jesse, you are a leader in this industry.

01:02:01.079 --> 01:02:05.960
I'm sure you get told all the time, but you are just an achiever.

01:02:06.039 --> 01:02:09.800
You know, you are an oak of righteousness, as I would say.

01:02:09.960 --> 01:02:11.400
You do tremendous things.

01:02:11.559 --> 01:02:13.480
And I would say that you are a shaker.

01:02:13.559 --> 01:02:18.199
You're a trailblazer, you're a pioneer, and I'm just honored to know you, brother.

01:02:18.519 --> 01:02:20.199
Man, thank you.

01:02:22.679 --> 01:02:27.240
Before you go, I want to thank you for spending part of your day with me.

01:02:27.400 --> 01:02:30.280
Your time and attention mean a ton.

01:02:30.840 --> 01:02:35.159
And it's because of listeners like you that this podcast even exists.

01:02:35.400 --> 01:02:46.519
If you enjoyed today's conversation, make sure to subscribe to the Learnins and Missteps podcast so you never miss an episode and you get extra credit if you share it with your friends.

01:02:46.760 --> 01:02:59.400
Also, if you want even more insights on leadership, personal growth, communication, you know, all those fancy magical things, you can sign up for my newsletter on LinkedIn because I got a newsletter that goes out every single Monday.

01:02:59.639 --> 01:03:09.559
All the resources I share there are designed to help you put yourself first so that you can leave this world better than you found it.

01:03:09.720 --> 01:03:14.360
There's also a digital copy of my book, Becoming the Promise You're Intended to Be.

01:03:14.440 --> 01:03:17.079
And it's sitting there waiting for you on my website.

01:03:17.159 --> 01:03:20.840
All you gotta do is do the click and do the download and you get the free PDF.

01:03:21.000 --> 01:03:31.800
And if you want even more bonus points, share that PDF with somebody you know or the family of somebody you know that is currently struggling with self-destructive behavior.

01:03:32.039 --> 01:03:34.440
That would be the ultimate gift for me.

01:03:34.599 --> 01:03:44.920
While you're there, do some exploring of the trainings, workshops, and services that are designed to enhance your performance at home and at work.

01:03:45.079 --> 01:03:47.400
Just click the link in the show notes to check it out.

01:03:47.639 --> 01:03:48.840
Thanks again for listening.

01:03:49.000 --> 01:03:52.280
Take care of yourself, and I'll see you on the next episode.

01:03:52.519 --> 01:03:53.240
Peace.