Get fit for management by developing ‘real’ skills

Back in the day, I had several ambitious site project managers all pushing for promotion. As their boss’s boss, they would ask me when I was going to promote them to the next level.

I would always respond that if and when there was a contracts manager job available, we would appoint whoever was the fittest at that time – and tell them to make sure they were fit.

I’d go on to say that I was committed to their success, which I was, and that I’d support their efforts as best I could, and that I was similarly committed to everyone else’s success.

I was an energetic and determined site engineer. My employer encouraged my education and I sought out and grasped every suitable development opportunity.

I got promoted to senior engineer and then, for the same reasons, to sub-agent, site agent, project manager and then contracts manager.

Up to that level, all my formal training and education was technical. At no stage was I taught how to get on with and get the best out of people, how to build teams, how to be my best self, how to manage and lead people.

I often wondered if anyone knew how to do this stuff or if they were assuming I knew how as I had gotten that far.

Traditionally, this is how it has been in the construction industry – and still is. I coach leadership teams, and the executives in those teams tell me their path was the same as mine – plenty of technical and statutory training underpinned by their own determination to succeed.

This approach might work for self-motivated, energetic and determined people, but it’s not working for projects nor the industry.

Let’s unpack what getting fit looks like.

You’ve got the technical knowledge, your degree and sporadic professional development has that mostly covered.

You might need to brush up on things like the latest Building Safety Act or BIM, but that’s not going to get you up the management ladder and into a leadership position, if that’s what you want, and to excel when you get there.

Even if you want to develop your technical career, you have to move beyond the technical stuff to get things done – ‘no man is an island’, you cannot exist independently.

So from here, getting fit is beyond the technical stuff.

Getting fit for management and leadership is about showing up consistently as your best self and getting the best out of others, individuals and teams. It’s about the so-called ‘soft skills’.

But wait, you’re not soft and soft doesn’t cut it in the construction industry. So let’s not call them soft skills. The necessary skills are ‘real’ skills.

I joined the industry in 1976 and have been immersed in it ever since – though for the past 25 years, I’ve been at a good distance to see what’s really going on.

From this distance, two things are plain to see.

First, the common culture is command and control, and hunting for compliance.

This is a disaster for staff motivation, engagement, productivity and retention – all of which are at low levels from the bottom to the top of the hierarchy. Yes, it’s all got too much for many at the top as well!

I believe doing something about this culture should be the top priority for all in the construction industry, yet it feels like I am the only one talking and doing something about it.

Second, people don’t delegate effectively. Many don’t want to because they only trust themselves or they assume they are delegating well but don’t know how and aren’t.

Delegation is in every conversation I have with managers and leaders, but not for the right reasons and, yet again, I feel I am the only one doing something about it.

If you want to get that next promotion and move up the ladder, get fit now. Don’t wait for the industry to change or your bosses to look after you. They are too busy trying to work things out for themselves.

You have to lead your way, or as Ghandi said: “Be the change you want to see.”

Read books, listen to podcasts, take a course in learning. Not about any old thing but about ‘real’ skills. And get a coach so you show up as your best self and grow into who you want to become.

Adding on more technical competency might make you a better technician, but that is not going to make you a better manager or move you towards a leadership role.

And if you take my word for it, based on my 48 years of observing, experimenting and learning, a good place to start your fitness campaign would be to adopt a coaching style of management and learn how to delegate in a deep and deliberate way.

I have written books and created courses on both of these ‘real’ skills. They are light duty in terms of time and money. Also, they are packed with insight and tools that you can use in your job straightaway.

There are no excuses for not being the fittest for that next promotion when it becomes available, though there is something you should be aware of, then get on top of…

If the next job becomes available and you are fit for it but there is no one to do your current job, then you might falter.

That prized job might just go to someone who is also fit for it, plus has developed someone to fill their own shoes.

A big part of getting fit is developing the people who report into you so they are, or at least one is, competent and ready to do your job when you move upwards.  

And all of the above applies to your people. They need real skills, not more technical training. I bet they’d love to adopt a coaching style of management and to be able to delegate effectively.

You will all benefit, and it will show up in your team’s or department’s remarkable results – making you the fittest candidate for the next promotion and, in time, for the one after that.

You’ve got the technical skills, now let’s get real.

For more information visit Coach4Results or Delegate4Results.

Dave Stitt FCIOB is a chartered civil engineer, and professional certified coach at DSA Building Performance.