How to develop your leadership skills in the construction industry
There’s a lot to learn in the construction industry, and high technical skills at the site and in the office can mean the difference between a profitable project and business failure. The Surety Information Office in the US estimates that 36% of contractors fail because of performance issues. These skills can be acquired from a wide range of technical training facilities in the industry.
But once someone moves off the tools, they require a different set of skills. According to that SIO report, 29% of contractors fail because of management issues like lack of capability at upper management or project level. Those skills don’t get developed at technical training facilities.
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The Best Way to Develop Leadership Skills in Construction Leadership Skills
The best way to develop leadership skills in the industry is on the job, but not by accident. The soft skills required of a manager are not learned in a classroom, they are learned on site, working with teams, subbies, suppliers, and clients. Most operational managers pick it up as they go along, but that’s leaving skill development to chance. They pick up bad habits, there are things they never learn and skills aren’t consistent across the industry.
The best way to develop leadership skills is to be deliberate, disciplined, and consistent about it. That means, above all else, getting relevant, practical content that can be practiced on the job. This should cover things like communications skills, planning, problem solving, dealing with poor performers – real life stuff presented in a way that can be used on site or in the office immediately.
Read more about the soft skills that make great Construction leaders here.
It needs to be backed up with coaching which is often informal but never casual. It’s not just patting someone on the back or kicking their ass, it is deliberate, intentional coaching from senior leaders. In the construction industry we’ve often found that when it comes to coaching, leaders need just as much skill development as the managers.
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