When we focus exclusively on the price of the bid, we risk finding ourselves working with people we can’t depend on. At the same time, we all know that our industry is built around profit.    Teams work best when there is balance between profit and relationship. This requires trust. When trust is present within and between crews, a project runs more efficiently and results in a better end product. On top of that, the process is more enjoyable for everyone.      Find Us Online: Website - LinkedIn - Instagram - Facebook - Eddie's LinkedIn - Tyler's LinkedIn If you enjoy the podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to us! Thanks for listening! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you work in construction, you know that we have a problem. We need more young people! Someone needs to connect the countless dots of classroom learning, workplace skills, career awareness, and student interests. Lydia Burns is that connector of dots.  More formally, Lydia is known as a senior manager with Allied Construction Industries, a trade group that works on advocacy, networking, and solutions for anyone within the construction industry. Lydia’s specific focus is on the Construction Career Center, and even more specifically their K-12 programs, which work to familiarize students with various aspects of construction. The goal of these programs is to increase the number of young people heading into construction.  Here is what the ACI program does: Takes a systemic, big-picture approach to increasing student awareness and working them toward actual jobs,Fosters relationships between companies and groups of students as early as 5th grade,Seeks to reduce the anxiety many students feel regarding the math skills that are foundational to jobs in engineering and construction,Helps schools develop and implement project-based learning curriculum focusing on connecting math lessons to the real-world applications,Engages students in an actual small-scale construction project within the school building,Coordinates sequential training: 7th-grade framing, 8th-grade pipefitting, 9th-grade electrical, and so on. As you can imagine, there are challenges to this kind of work. Changing public school curriculum takes time. Putting a bunch of inexperienced high school kids in the middle of a mock construction project has risks. It’s difficult to coordinate the schedules and align the instruction of various educators and contractors.     Here are some of the things ACI does to meet these challenges:  Becomes familiar with the entire public school administrative structure within a state and district;Facilitate communication and policy alignment among OSHA, insurance companies, attorneys, and schools regarding the presence of minors on work sites; Establishes and enforces GPA requirements and other eligibility requirements for participants;Equips classroom teachers with lesson plans that focus on hands-on-learning .  As a result of their work, ACI in the Cincinnati Public Schools has seen students receive industry-recognized credentials before they leave high school.  Here are some other bits and pieces from this episode: Tyler and Lydia share their own frustrations with math back in the day.We explore how working in residential construction can lead to work in industrial construction. Lydia explains the message she communicates to school districts: “Hope is not a strategy.”We celebrate that most state departments of education have finally acknowledged that not everyone should be heading to college.  Learn more about Lydia, ACI, and their programs: Lydia’s LinkedIn -  ACI’s web page - Info about ACI’s k-12 Program Find Us Online: BrosPodcast.com - LinkedIn - Instagram - Facebook - Eddie's LinkedIn - Tyler's LinkedIn If you enjoy the podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to us! Thanks for listening! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Unclear expectations, scope creep, “Dude, that’s not my job!” Regardless of the phrasing, you’ve experienced it if you’re a contractor or a sub. Today we discuss how to avoid it.   What’s the answer?    Refine.  Be clear.  Empathize.    Find individuals who are masters of their specialties. Define the job you need each person to do and then hold yourself to those boundaries.    That’s the message of today’s Five-Minute Friday.    Find Us Online: Website - LinkedIn - Instagram - Facebook - Eddie's LinkedIn - Tyler's LinkedIn If you enjoy the podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to us! Thanks for listening! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wally’s range of experience is more diverse than most. Who would have guessed that the Notre Dame leprechaun (yes, he was the official leprechaun for a year) would work his way to the rank of commander in the marines and pilot AH-1W Super Cobra helicopters? Eventually, Wally worked his way into construction leadership with FMI Consulting. Now Wally works as a public speaker and consultant, inspiring people in various fields to become better leaders. In our chat with Wally, we discuss the leadership principles that build strong, productive businesses where employees want to contribute and stick around. Wally says that it’s about a range of things that boil down to a culture built on what he calls “micro trust.” Here are some bits and pieces   Advice Wally gives leaders: The daily huddle is one of the best tools you have every day.Credibility is essential.“Your behavior as a leader drives the behavior of other people.”If you put barriers in front of new people because you experienced barriers, you’re shooting yourself in the foot (and harming your business).Beware of short-term thinking that can compromise long-term results. Innovate.“You can’t create greatness in a company if you don’t share information.”Begin with the end in mind. Show respect for the individual. Give them tools that work.   Advice Wally gives today’s followers (tomorrow’s leaders): Show up, shut up, and perform.Have an open mind. Give your leaders some leeway to make mistakes. Nobody’s perfect.Pay your dues. If you’re good, you play.Don’t withdraw to your own echo chamber.   We discuss the fact that the construction industry is a crazy world. There’s a huge range of complications and every single day. Yes, it’s important to get the job done, but the job doesn’t get done if you don’t take human dynamics into consideration. Leadership development is personal development.    Wally’s Megaphone Message:  Jerks don’t win. “We” is better than “me.” Seek to make the pie bigger for everybody. Seek to get new people into the building.  Find Wally Online: His FireStarter Speaking page - His LinkedIn page  Find Us Online: BrosPodcast.com - LinkedIn - Instagram - Facebook - Eddie on LinkedIn - Tyler on LinkedIn If you enjoy the podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to us! Thanks for listening! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nature’s timelines can seem unfair. The same is true of professional timelines. It can leave you feeling left behind. Our message: Cut yourself some slack! Stay the course! Don’t rush it!    Keep learning, and watch for opportunities to combine your passions, skills, and experience into something meaningful.     That’s the nugget of insight we offer in today’s Five-Minute Friday.  Find Us Online: BrosPodcast.com - LinkedIn - Instagram - Facebook - Eddie's LinkedIn - Tyler's LinkedIn If you enjoy the podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to us! Thanks for listening! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When we don’t have a guest, it’s a bit like Dwight and Jim when Michael’s out of town. Today we confront the reality that we’ve talked out of both sides of our mouths. As we reflect on that, we touch on blood, politics, and mouse-movers. Do we un-contradict ourselves? You make the call. Be warned: our dander gets up a couple times.  Wait. Before we go any further… In case you came to the show notes for the Mike Rowe sheep-castration link (which is likely), here it is. Here are some of the contradictions, insights, and questions we unpack today: Contradiction #1: Getting ahead of things vs. realizing not everyone can be at the front of the line Acknowledge that some people have bigger fish to fry than the one that you’re holding up so proudly.Some principles are relevant to both $50 billion giga-projects and a modest remodel.Is it possible to build a bigger contractor table so everyone who wants a seat can have one (without a food fight breaking out)?Surprise, surprise! It all comes back to trust. And sometimes that’s tough. Contradiction #2: Progressives vs. Conservatives (in relation to organization and technology) It’s tough to judge what’s good about new things coming down the pike but also balance that with an appreciation of traditional practices.We need someone out there on the bleeding edge.Can we use some old-timey practices to reduce RFIs? Contradiction #3: Old School vs. New School (in relation to workplace dynamics) Ties vs. t-shirtsTaskmasters vs. TwitterCompetent management vs. mouse-movers (Here’s what they look like.)Man, has Dennis seen a lot of change in his 50-year career. Today’s Megaphone message comes from Eddie: “Have a healthy respect for tradition while maintaining a passion for the truth.” Find Us Online: BrosPodcast.com - LinkedIn - Instagram - Facebook - Eddie's LinkedIn - Tyler's LinkedIn If you enjoy the podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to us! Thanks for listening! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A few months ago, after a decade of the two of us working closely together, Tyler left ABSI to start his own company. What has Eddie learned from losing his right-hand man?   Help them leave well. Celebrate their wins with them. Be genuinely happy for them. Do your best to put yourself in their shoes.   Recognize and acknowledge that this separation is a form of loss, and with loss comes emotions you may not have accounted for:   Shock, disbelief, or denialAnxietyDistressAngerPeriods of sadnessLoss of sleep and loss of appetite Don’t make big decisions or be hasty. Think. Be deliberate. Figure out what has to happen right now and what doesn’t.  Refocus your goals with the team you have around you, and keep plugging.  That’s the message of today’s Five-Minute Friday.    Find Us Online: LinkedIn - Instagram - Facebook - Eddie's LinkedIn - Tyler's LinkedIn If you enjoy the podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to us! Thanks for listening! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Supply-chain challenges are certainly nothing new, but they’ve grown increasingly complicated over the last few years. Today we discuss how you as a contractor can approach these challenges whether you’re working on a local and global scale.   We get several helpful supply-chain insights from our guest Ernie Maschner. Ernie has been an influential presence in the construction industry for more than 30 years. He now works as a VP with Victaulic, a manufacturer of engineered couplings and valves. Ernie is also involved with a few industry organizations that seek to address global supply chain issues.    Here are a few of the things we touch on in our conversation: The importance of communicating with all supply-chain parties as early as possibleIndustry organizations that seek to help contractors navigate today’s supply chain challenges - Ernie refers to these three: The Construction Industry Institute, The Design Build Institute of America, The Water Collaborative Delivery Association How human, political, and social dynamics affect the supply chain - For example: Why does the availability of asphalt in Brazil follow a two-year cycle? Ernie learned the answer while working on projects related to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.How some progressive contractors write up contracts that allow for the increasing unpredictability of markets A $50 billion (yes, billion) modular construction project in Kazakhstan that involved modules the size of small hotelsThe cultural factors that affect people’s attitudes toward prefabrication and modular construction Ernie’s megaphone message: We need to work together in a fair way. Collaborative project delivery produces better results in the end. Find Ernie Online: Website - LinkedIn Find Us Online: LinkedIn - Instagram - Facebook - Eddie's LinkedIn - Tyler's LinkedIn If you enjoy the podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to us! Thanks for listening! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Whether you’re in sales or not, knowing how to sell can be an invaluable skill to understand and master. Jack Daly is a sales expert and coach with over 30 years of boots on the ground experience. He guides us through best practice and gives us tips on how to sell larger projects than you thought were possible.   Here are a few things you’ll learn!  The difference between a $1,000 salesperson and a $100,000,000 salespersonHow to not come off like a desperate salespersonTips for getting your foot in the door   Episode Links Jack's WebsiteJack on LinkedIn Other Links LinkedInInstagramFacebookEddie's LinkedInTyler's LinkedIn  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.