Vince, a project manager for a large general contractor in eastern Washington told Session 9 of the Leadership Development LAB.

I was preparing to do something new, for me, it was a big push out of my comfort zone. Prior to the Turbo classes, I would complete all the pre-job tasks by myself. I guess I felt I would be bothering my senior superintendent, Ron, by asking for his input and help on pre-job tasks.

A couple of weeks ago, midway through the day I asked Ron to take a 295 mile ride with me over to a project located in Dayton, Washington. After a few minutes of preliminary pleasantries, I began to ask Ron about his experience on jobs like the on we were going to look at in Dayton, As we drove along, I learned a lot about how important other employee's input and opinions can be. Because of the lessons I have learned at the Turbo classes, I was able to navigate a conversation that empowered my senior superintendent. As we continued making the most out of our valuable windshield time, I told Ron that I had not been able to line up a temporary construction yard, a place to store our equipment and materials.

After we arrived at the project site, we started visiting with our ready mix supplier. I discovered that this person had been a friend of Ron's

for over 20 years. They had not seen each other for a long time, so it made this reunion very special for both of them. Ron began telling his friend that we hadn't been able to line up a temporary construction yard arrangement, a place to store equipment and materials. Low and behold he offered us about 4 acres of their yard at not charge to our company. In the past I would have had to pay up to $1,000 per month for a temporary yard like this. Wow!

The lesson I learned from this experience is that the employees of our division want to be involved, a part of the solution, and accountable. They all have so much to offer to the success of our division if I just give them an hour of opportunity to get to know them and I let them know the big picture, including the challenges I am facing.

The action I call you to take is to break away from how we were taught (i.e. if you want a job done right, do it yourself!). Empower your staff, let them take charge of what they do best and have fun! The benefit you will gain is you will build your people in a great way, and then those great people will build great things. In addition you will gain the satisfaction of watching your people grow, and this is the only safe and sound way your company can grow.