There are a thousand ways to be a good leader and a thousand ways to fail. Whenever I think about leadership, I always come back to something I first heard at a leadership programme many years ago. There are three questions every staff member has of their leader:

• Do you care about me?

• Can I trust you?

• Are you committed to excellence?

Download our guide Top 5 Critical People Challenges Construction Leaders Can Resolve in 2022 to transform the way you think about Construction management training.

Great Construction Leaders Care

To care about your people doesn’t mean that you have to like them. It does mean having concern for them as human beings. This can look like making allowances for times when they are under personal stress and asking them what they need from you. It can even look like helping them realise they’re in the wrong job or just not cut out for construction. 

Why Trust is Important to Leadership

Concern also means caring about their purpose: most people are motivated by a desire to not only do a good job but to grow and improve. To encourage people is an act of caring.  Being willing to set stretch goals and provide honest feedback is an act of caring. You don’t have to be gushy about it, but if you can tap into professional concern, your conversations will be less transactional and more authentic.

Trust is fundamental to any relationship. As we’ve said before, trust is earned by honouring your commitments. You can’t control the organisation’s consistency – circumstances mean sometimes commitments can’t be honoured. But here’s the thing about trust: while others may breach your trust, you can remain trustworthy. That simply means that you can be relied on to be consistent. It doesn’t mean you’re soft. You can be a tough taskmaster, and so long as you’re consistent and fair in that, people can predict how you will behave and they can therefore trust you.

Your watchword as a leader is to be trustworthy. If you can’t accept that challenge, you’ll struggle to create followers to your leadership. Learn more about the essential skills of managers in Construction here.

The Best Way to Get Excellence – Be Excellent

Finally, the commitment to excellence. People do want to do a good job, they want to be proud of what they’ve built and they also want to know it’s appreciated. But if they don’t see that you care about quality, they’re not going to either. Short cuts, cheap options, ignoring warning signs on projects, fudging the truth with clients or inspectors – all of these things are signals. But the number one thing that undermines whatever you say about quality is your willingness to tolerate poor performance. If you have someone in your team who is underperforming and you’re not dealing with it, everyone else will be asking themselves why they should care about quality.

Take these three questions with you. They are the essence of leadership.

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