Mentors and Mentoring

My stomach turned. It might have been the combination platter. The main dish being the invasion of Ukraine. The sides, Buffalo and Uvalde.

Interesting word… Coach. You can use it many ways.  As describing a mode of transportation – like riding in a coach or flying in coach. Better yet, as an action word, as in to coach someone. My favorite

Extricate: to free or remove from an entanglement or difficulty. As in “If you extri

The title should really be The Day You Become Wealthy. After all, there is a big difference between being rich and being wealthy.  Being rich means you need ongoing income to pay for your lifestyle. A lot of people want to be rich. They want the bling and the excitement of a rich lifestyle. However, that exuberant lifestyle may re

If you’re in the construction industry, you would think it would be easy to make more money these days. There’s a definite building boom going on. There are all kinds of projects being built. Money is cheap. Interest rates are low. The pandemic got many people thinking about where they really want to live and it wasn’t where they were living

Did you grow up in the construction industry? Are you a second generation builder? Was your dad a contractor? No? Me neither.  The reason I ask is that construction is a hard business to learn. Oh sure, you can learn a trade, but to learn the business… that’s a different story.  So how do you get there faster? Do what my mama to

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For any business, what your clients will come to you for is your work, your product, your craft and your service. After all, you’re in the business of providing value to others. Yet, beyond your product, what are the top 10 components that will make your business valued, sustainable and consistently profitable year after year? Over 37 yea

It’s probably not a big surprise to you, but not everyone is nice and plays fair. In fact, I’ll bet that at some point in time you’ve found yourself negotiating with someone who’s a better negotiator than you are. Someone who’s a smooth talker and who can think faster on their feet. Someone, whom every time that you

The Great, the Good, the Dangerous, the Bizarre, and the Neurotic Parts 1 & 2 of a 5 Part Series Note: This blog post is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are use

The Great, the Good, the Dangerous, the Bizarre, and the Neurotic Part 3 of a 5 Part Series LATF, Sharks, and Chronic Re-Negotiators   The Dangerous Note: This blog post is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and in

The Great, the Good, the Dangerous, the Bizarre, and the Neurotic Part 4 of a 5 Part Series  The Bizarre: Disparaging Bullies, Narcissists, Liars Note: This blog post is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and

The Great, the Good, the Dangerous, the Bizarre, and the Neurotic Part 5 of a 5 Part Series  The Neurotic: Borderline, OCD, and Paranoia  Note: This blog post is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and

Profit – that elusive and mysterious thing. As small business owners, we know we’re supposed to strive for it. Yet, for a variety of reasons most of us don’t achieve it.  And let’s face it… the construction industry is a low profit margin, high risk business.  We’re n

Builders and contractors have this unique skill to take a two dimensional set of plans and build something tangible, like a house, a remodel, a school or a bridge. In order to do that effectively, we use lists.  Alot. It turns out that lists are powerful, not just for getting your work done, but also for their ability to help build your life. Lists are shorthand for a set of

When I was in my early ‘40s and still trying to figure out how to be successful in business, a wise person explained the Circle of Life to me.   “Bruce,” he said, “your 20’s are all about trying out all kinds of things to see what it is that you like to do.” &ld

Since it's just past Thanksgiving and with the holiday season upon us, I’ve got to acknowledge the power of being involved in your community if you’re a contractor. After all, you helped to build your community and you continue to do so every day.  Being in

Have you ever worked at a job with a lot of unspoken rules? Things you didn’t know about until you unknowingly violated some kind of intolerable norm? And you felt kind of blindsided by it and wondered if it was so dang important, then why didn’t they just inform you at the front end? Sure would have made things ea

Every sturdy building is constructed on strong columns. Each of the columns carries part of the load. Laterally braced, they in turn support each other. If well engineered, you could remove a column and the structure will still stand. Albeit compromised, it will not fail because it's not been built to rely on just one support.  Similarly, every successful company is built on stellar columns. They form the structure of your

I’m not talking about the election. I’m talking about the hand off that’s taking place right now between one generation and another in the building trades. I’m talking about the boomers getting out and the millennials getting in.  Believe it or not, but if you’re a millennial o

Catastrophes happen. That’s the polite way of putting it.  However, as a general contractor, you’re used to dealing with mini-catastrophes. Daily challenges are just a part of a builder’s life. Yet, major catastrophic events do happen, sometimes affecting just you and other times whole communities. From the death of a loved one, to divorce, to accidents, to natural disasters to war, it’s guaranteed that people will experience some crazy ass stuff in their

With all due respect to Led Zeppelin, times are stressful at this moment, right?  But, as contractors, you already know that stress is a constant.  When times are tough, you’re stressed trying to get work.  When times are good, you’re stressed executing the work. So stress is constant. Yet, most of us in this business are adrenalin junkies. We like change. We like action. We like risk. That’s why we take on challenging projects. When

Typically, the first person you hire in your organization that’s not part of your field crew is someone to do the books, the paperwork, payroll, HR, and banking. You know, all that stuff you can’t stand to do because you enjoy building more. Quite frankly, you’re more valuable in your role as a builder than you are doing stuff you can’t stand to do. However also typically, our first hire is someone we know, perhaps even love, like our significant ot

It all starts with passion. You’ve got to be passionate, almost obsessively passionate, about your chosen craft. If you’re not passionate about what you’re doing for a living, then keep looking. For success to happen, you must have passion about your work. Not to the exclusion of your family and friends, but certainly above all else. If you’re not, somebody else is.

When we first get into the trades, we typically get some intrinsic enjoyment and satisfaction out of assembling something and seeing the act of completion that goes into each task on a daily basis. Sure, some days are better than others. Some things are more satisfying than others. And that’s part of the joy of the building industry. For those of us who are easily bored, experience ADHD, and need change and accomplishment in our lives every day, it’s satisfying to our soul.

By mastering our craft and trade, we start learning to think ahead. Driven by pride, the craftsperson is on a constant search to find small efficiencies at each step they take. This becomes a habit. That in turn becomes a practice. And over a lifetime of building, observing, learning and adapting (BOLA), this practice makes you successful. The determined craftsperson learns by doing. They learn by watching others, by being curious, by asking questions,

You learn your craft and then you get recognized and promoted. Now you’re leading a helper, an apprentice or a crew. Or running a job or a project. And you find out that other people are not as passionate about what they’re doing as you are. Welcome to management!   When you break down the word “manager”, it becomes “man-ager”. And it works both ways. Managing can both age you and the people you manage.

When I was 55, I took up horseback riding. My wife, Kelley, is a lifelong equestrian. I am not. Equestrians talk a lot about developing “feel” and connectedness with your horse. It’s not a motorcycle, where you kick start the engine, put the bike into gear, twist the throttle and go. It’s a living, breathing 1200 pound animal with feelings and experiences that you need to develop a relationship and understanding with. My wife had her horse and so a

You’ve learned a craft. You’ve run work or managed projects for someone else. Certainly by now you’ve thought, “by God, if they’re in business making all that money, surely I could do that. I could probably do even better than them because I’m running this job better than they __________ (and here feel free to insert dismissive phrase here of your choice…”could, did, ever did”). So, through various means and methods, per

Successful contractors are competitive. They have to be. It is the nature of the free enterprise system. As much as that system is chastised for being unfair, if you take a look at the natural world around us, that’s the way that nature works. Animals are opportunistic, adaptable and risk takers. They do not survive without that. Humans are the same. Even in our “civilized” society. So, who’s your competition? If you’re a fledgling business owner,

What are your strengths that set you apart? We all have them. It’s part of what makes us human. The challenge is identifying them, developing them over time and then using them. It’s something we work on all our lives. Again, thanks to my parents, my strengths lie in reading, writing, and communicating. And thanks to my grandparents, I’ve got persistence, determination and grit in my DNA. Being thoughtful helps. So does being a good listener and taking notes.

Now You’re In Business. So How Do You Grow Your Organization? Notice I said your organization, not your business. In my mind, they are two separate things. Yes, first you grow your business,