Davis H. Elliot Company, Inc.’s Post

“The experience was like getting thrown feet-first into a pool, trying to learn how to swim. Fortunately, because of the Lewis leaders in the area, I was able to learn the ins and outs of all the utilities that we were serving and tried my best to make things more successful than they had been.” Back in April 2023, Shane Greene, at that time a Supervisor in our Tennessee division, got a call from a Regional VP Matt Meador out of the blue. Some crews in another division had lost their home utility and needed to temporarily relocate from Oklahoma to South Carolina. Matt needed someone to move with the team and oversee the transition. Shane stepped up to the plate. Another time, Shane was asked to help another division with bidding for a utility contract. His division does a lot of bidding, so without hesitation he and another supervisor traveled to Indiana to teach the division their bidding process and cross-check their bids. These are just a couple of examples of Shane’s leadership here at Lewis. Thanks to his military background, Shane is used to going into new organizations with new personnel and fixing what’s going wrong while reinforcing what’s going well. So, when different divisions in the company need help with special projects, Shane is the one they call. Shane says the special projects he’s involved in can sometimes be a challenge, but he always finds the divisions he works with willing to help. He says what’s great about working at Lewis is that the company’s mission and operating principles connect everyone, and that makes it easy for him to step into different divisions and assist in any way he can. “We share common morals and values, and we all want to see the mission through,” he says. “It doesn’t matter which division you go to, we’re all speaking the same language. We all want to get the job done right.” To learn more about how we do leadership differently here at Lewis, visit https://hubs.ly/Q02g9J3y0. #LeadershipInAction #EmployeeOwners #PowerON

Are you ready to build self-confidence and trust in your role? Join us for this 1-day workshop in which you'll learn how to: -Define “self-confidence” and access your own level of self-confidence. -List 6 rules to build your own self confidence. -List traits of a self-confident leader and explain why self-confidence is a key leadership trait. -List qualities of trustworthy people. -List 10 rules for building trust. -Explain the connection between trust and leadership. Intended audience: New and experienced managers and leaders who want to develop or improve their skills related to building self-confidence and trust. Also suitable for experienced individuals but are in need of new practical ideas for building self-confidence and trust in the modern manufacturing environment. Workshop length: 4 hours Location: Economic Development Corporation of Elkhart County, 300 NIBCO Parkway, Suite 201, Elkhart, IN Register by Tuesday, April 30, 2024 at https://loom.ly/W_DKeq4

Everyone from the weekend DIYer to the seasoned construction professional has heard the old adage, “Measure twice. Cut once.” Let’s repurpose that for leadership. When entering into a new relationship or leadership position, “Listen twice. Talk once.” You don’t know what you don’t know. Making early, uninformed decisions or changes could leave you with a lot of very avoidable headaches. Check your ego at the door and listen to what the stakeholders have to say. They always know what is REALLY broken.

Leaders stay with you whether you are in person or only connect for time to time. They stay with you as you follow their example, or a message or a vision and reflect that in your own leadership.

What do Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Kiewit have in common? The answer is that all three started out with humble beginnings, and eventually rose to success. I’ve told the story here about how Larry Bird and Magic Johnson both rode a garbage truck in their hometowns before they went on to become legends in both college and professional basketball. But there’s also a significant segment of Kiewit leadership, not to mention the company itself, that followed a similar trajectory. Before ascending to higher roles in the company, quite a few Kiewit leaders and executives started out as craft laborers and worked their way up. And even though Kiewit has become one of the largest construction and engineering firms in North America, the company started out as a small masonry contractor out of Omaha. Kiewit grew incrementally over a long period of time before things started to boom. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson stood out as players because they excelled at passing the ball. By involving everyone in the game, they inspired their teammates and earned respect as leaders. In the same vein, Kiewit has developed a culture that values craft labor. People from modest backgrounds can advance to run major projects, and they are given the training and experience to get them there. It goes to show that the path to excellence can start with humble beginnings.

Check out the latest article about conversations on leadership with our Executive Director, Merike Treier, showcasing the evolution of Downtown Syracuse over the course of her career.

Since my position is changing at the Community Colleges of Spokane, my current staff wrote up information they thought would be important for their new supervisor to know about what they appreciated about my leadership style. Here is what they wrote. What we like in a supervisor: Jim is one of the very best managers all of us have experienced, and we have put together the supervisory characteristics of Jim that we all love and appreciate: Trusts us to do our jobs and do it to a quality, and standard of CCS in the time frames allotted. Allows autonomy. Allows staff as a group divide up all our pooled tasks and decide who does what task. This way we can play to the team's specialties, abilities, and preferences. Understands what “reasonable expectations” are when it comes to the requests that our office receives. Encourages professional development and supports growth and advancement. Is thoughtful, considerate, understanding. Allows everyone on the team to have a voice. I am so honored this is how they see me as their supervisor. While I do intentionally try to build a culture where all of the above can be experienced, it is not me alone who builds a culture. The entire team builds the culture together and I am glad we could co-create a space where all of us felt valued and supported.

If you are working in multifamily maintenance and it feels like it's a dead-end job, just know that it doesn't have to be. I've witnessed incredible journeys of maintenance pros starting from the ground up, now holding positions as Regional or National Directors, renowned trainers, even Presidents, CEOs, or COOs of property management firms. These leaders shattered limitations, proving careers aren't confined by opinions or self-imposed barriers. Our paths are ours to shape, irrespective of others' perceptions. Know other remarkable professionals who rose from maintenance to lead? Tag them below! I'l start: Christopher Williams Bill Nye, CAM CAPS, Mark Cukro, Paul Rhodes, Alex Watts, CAPS, CAMT, Jay Abney, CPO, CAMT, NAAEI Faculty Trainer/Proctor, Jedd McDaniel, Chris Caramanica, Josh Hayes, CAMT-L, CAPS, Michael R Mangum. #propertymanagement #multifamily #maintenance #leadership

Time is running out. 😲 The skilled tradespeople of the baby boomer generation are retiring and the workers to replace them are few and far between. Here's how construction businesses TODAY can help their skilled laborers get the leadership training they need and deserve to help bridge the gap. ⤵️ #skilledtrades #goodleadership #leadershiptraining