Chuck Noll’s leadership legacy

Leadership comes in many forms - including a NFL head coach. As this ISHN article clearly states, it takes courage and tact to be appropriately candid, but it is very necessary in order to hold people accountable and to set a standard of performance that will define your culture for safety.

ISHN.com 

The very recent passing of Chuck Noll, Hall of Fame coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, has stirred the emotions and thoughts of many. Chuck Noll is the only NFL head coach to win four Super Bowls and may be the greatest NFL head coach of all time. Charles Henry Noll never received the credit he truly deserved but those closest to him realized his exceptional leadership qualities, almost instantly.

In the local press coverage, former players and those from the Steelers’ front office have had the most to share about Coach Noll. He had many outstanding leadership qualities but one of the most highly regarded was his candidness. Chuck Noll knew how to be very straightforward about performance but he wasn’t deeply offensive – he had tact. We can learn from Chuck Noll by being forthright and candid about safety-related performance.

1. Be as direct about performance issues by being as open and honest as possible.

2. Don’t make it personal or use name-calling to defeat someone.

3. Don’t wait to address performance issues - the earlier the better.

4. Don’t belittle someone in front of their peers or others.

5. Use your words carefully – some words cut deeply and humiliate.

It takes courage and tact to be appropriately candid, but it is very necessary in order to hold people accountable and to set a standard of performance that will define your culture for safety. Mike Tomlin, the current head coach of the Steelers, often uses a phrase that characterizes the Steelers’ culture of success, “the standard is the standard.”

The Steelers’ standard of success didn’t start with Coach Tomlin, it started with Chuck Noll. Learn to be candid about safety performance; it will go a long way in setting and defining your own standards of success.

To see the full article, follow this link. 

The Four Keys to Igniting Employee Potential

"Engagement doesn’t happen by accident": a quote from Roxana Hewertson's article from Construction Business Owner. The base of any good working environment comes from productive and engaged employees who will champion your brand and your services. That's why it is so important to improve in this area and learn how to create a work culture that welcomes and rewards high-performers. 

Taki Steve, Flickr.com

When do you feel truly engaged at work? Chances are it’s when you believe in what you are doing, you are actively involved and you enjoy the people you work with. You are truly engaged when you are fully present, committed to the task at hand and enjoying what you are doing.

Research has long proven that engaged employees lead to more successful and profitable businesses. In 2012, a Dale Carnegie study found that of the 1,500 employees studied, only 29 percent were fully engaged, 25 percent were disengaged and 45 percent were only partially engaged. These results reflect many other credible studies conducted during the last ten years that show that, time after time, 50 percent or more of employees in all industries are dissatisfied at work and less than fully engaged.

Employee engagement is often lumped into the bucket of “soft, touchy-feely” human resource topics, but the “hard reality” is that flawed management practices and failed leadership contribute significantly to employee disengagement—and disengaged employees are unproductive and unprofitable employees, resulting in a negative financial impact. Engaged employees are more productive and deliver better customer service and higher quality work, all of which result in better branding, reputation and financial success for their employers. Every drop of discretionary effort impacts your bottom line. Whenever an employee contributes beyond what he or she must do to keep the job, you get more time and productivity than you are paying for.

Continue reading to find the 4 main keys: click here. <

Essential Jobs Include: Creating Job Descriptions

As a boss, you juggle many hats so make sure your employees are still getting your best! This article found on greenindustrypros.com makes a good argument for the importance of employee motivation in regards to your company's success.  

Landscape company owner/operators wear a lot of hats. They not only do the physical work of actually servicing accounts, but also sell and manage, respond to customers and do bookkeeping. The owners of larger landscape companies—who rarely if ever work on a crew anymore—wear many hats of their own; as a company gets bigger, the behind-the-scenes demands grow exponentially.

Whatever your personal situation is, the success of your company largely rests on the backs of your employees doing the work in the field. You must be able to trust them. In order to develop that trust, it's useful to have clear job descriptions in place before placing a new employee into action.

Tony Bass, a business trainer and former contractor, says that when you take a moment to reflect on all of the work that you do, you can start to see how it fits within numerous different roles within your company.

Click here to read the full article. 

Job Outlook Improving For Construction Industry

This is an excerpt from a todaysfacilitymanager.com article.

Gradual improvement throughout 2012 and into 2013 offers construction job seekers some relief, according to a new report by CareerCast.com. Commercial construction has improved over the past year with indicators pointing to continued growth.

“Newly created jobs in the construction industry provide opportunities for candidates with a diverse range of qualifications and skill sets,” says Tony Lee, publisher, CareerCast.com. “A construction manager/site superintendent is one such career, and one of the most lucrative in the sector with a median annual salary of $82,790.”

The construction manager/site superintendent oversees the day-to-day operations on-site, which is also important to the overall profitability of a project. Particularly skilled candidates for this job need to make sure projects “avoid hiccups” to prevent further cuts into those profit margins.

In recent years, construction workers with specialized trade skills have been the most in-demand amid the industry’s tumultuous times, Department of Labor statistics show. BLS projections suggest most specialty trade careers will grow over the national average in the next seven to 10 years. That means 20% to 25% more opportunities for carpenters, electricians, and plumbers. Contributing to the growth of these fields are the options they offer. Some skilled workers are independent contractors with whom construction companies employ on an individual basis. Other companies choose to staff their own, full-time skilled trade workers.

The full article is available on the Today's Facility Manager website.