Are You Really the CEO?
Starting and running your own successful construction business has likely required your relentless attention to every detail, on-site experience, and hands-on-hustle. You might even enjoy estimating, solving problems, supervising and getting into the nitty gritty as much as you can. But if you are now looking to really take your business to the next level, you need to shift from being chief of everything to CEO. Read on for insights about getting out of the daily grind and laying the foundation for the company’s next stage of growth.
Making The Shift
As the Owner of Pro-Accel, Jerry Aliberti observes that many construction business owners want to grow their businesses, and ambitiously head off on that path, hiring more people, and chasing bigger projects. Unfortunately they often fail, largely because they have not shifted away from their own customary to-do lists, as they concentrate instead on effective delegation, and extreme accountability:
Owners dream about stepping back, yet deep down they don’t trust anyone else to make the high-stakes calls. Or possibly they haven’t structured the company properly to do so. Teams are in place, but when the pressure hits, everyone still runs to ownership for answers. They’ve added more overhead, more estimators, more managers, yet the margins still aren’t improving. The weight sits heavily. The business has grown, but the owner is still carrying it on their shoulders….”
If this conundrum sounds familiar, Albierti advises shifting your essential question from: “How do I build this business?” to “How do I build people who can run this thing without me?” In other words, “If you’re still the center of everything, you’re not building a company. You’re just managing a bigger job.” Toward making the leap, Albierti suggests taking a good hard look at your answers to these questions, and using your insights to develop a solid plan of action that propels you into true leadership mode:
- Are your department heads making the calls you used to make, or do they still need your blessing for everything?
- Do you have numbers that show you how the business is really doing, or are you still walking around asking, “How’s it going?
- Can your leadership team solve problems without you…?
- Are your estimators and PMs following the same process every time, or does every job get handled like it’s the first one…?
- Do you have a plan for the next year that actually guides decisions, or are you just taking whatever work shows up?
- Do your people actually know and believe in your plan…?
- Are you working on the big picture stuff, or are you still putting out fires every day? …When someone quits, do you have someone ready to step up in that role…?
- Do your financial reports tell you where you’re headed…or just where you’ve been?
Getting serious about your CEO role at your business will likely require you to think more carefully than ever about your hiring plans. Though you can’t make all your dream hires at once, try plotting the path on a carefully thought through organizational chart. This will help you put the big picture into focus. When planning for your future staffing needs, follow the advice of construction business coach, George Hedley, and avoid the common organizational chart flaw of showing only “who reports to whom,” by detailing who’s accountable for actually getting the work done. According to Hedley, a strong organizational chart clarifies:
- Functions and responsibilities.
- Line of command — clearly defines who reports to who.
- Workflow — The flow of work and activities from one person to the next, or from project start to finish.
- Person 100% accountable for accomplishing all tasks and deadlines required per the company standards, systems and processes.
Team Up For The Win
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