{"id":814,"date":"2016-08-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-18T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/leadership-what-it-means-in-todays-construction-business\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T05:34:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T10:34:47","slug":"leadership-what-it-means-in-todays-construction-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/leadership-what-it-means-in-todays-construction-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Leadership: What it means in today\u2019s construction business"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header has-dark-background-color entry-header--has-illustration entry-header--has-illustration--generic\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__row row align-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-lg-7 col-xlg-6 entry-header__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"component component-single-header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__misc text--subtitle text--uppercase text--small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/category\/people-leadership\/\" class=\"entry-header__link\">People &amp; Leadership<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-title-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"entry-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tLeadership: What it means in today\u2019s construction business\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"entry-header__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"single-post-details container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2016-08-18T00:00:00-04:00\">August 18, 2016<\/time><\/span><span class=\"reading-time\"> min read<\/span>\n\t\t<button\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"social-share-button button button--icon button--secondary js-social-share-button\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-title=\"Leadership: What it means in today\u2019s construction business\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-url=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/leadership-what-it-means-in-todays-construction-business\/\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-text=\"Please read this interesting article\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__share-label\">Share<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-label\" hidden>Copy Link<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-tooltip\" aria-hidden=\"true\" hidden>Copied<\/span>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-author has-dark-background-color alignfull\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-authors\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-author-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"entry-author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/author\/jonwitty\/\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/04\/CRE-Jon-Witty-350x350.jpg\" class=\"entry-author__image\" alt=\"CRE Jon Witty\" \/>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"entry-author__name\">Jon Witty<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I learned early on in my business management career not to confuse management with leadership. Yes, leaders need to possess strong management skills, but true leaders go a step beyond overseeing activities and people. The fact is the world is full of good managers, but it\u2019s light on good leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What are the characteristics of a true leader? There are many opinions, but in my experience, three qualities define a person meant to lead:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Leaders listen. <\/strong>The tendency is for people to lead by telling and taking action. That\u2019s important but you also have to listen to what is going on in the organization. In my view, listening is the most important thing a leader can do. Listen to your employees and your own key leaders to understand what\u2019s driving them. Then put the pieces of what you\u2019ve learned together to get a sense of what is working, what is <em>not<\/em> working, and where the opportunities are.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Leaders inspire. <\/strong>A leader motivates people to perform at a level they otherwise wouldn\u2019t have reached. People fundamentally want to be part of a winning team and will work very hard to do that. Why? Because it feels good to win. A leader provides the vision and purpose that people will buy into intellectually, but more importantly, emotionally.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Leaders truly care. <\/strong>It\u2019s not enough to go through the motions and act like you care when you really don\u2019t. People can see right through that. Leaders have passion for what they want to accomplish and genuinely care about the people on their team.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-leadership-at-its-best\">Leadership at its best<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A good friend of mine just changed jobs and is now working for an electrical subcontractor. In this new company, they value working together to solve a problem. When he goes into the field to deal with issues they say \u201cwe\u2019re glad you came out here.\u201d They do barbecues and other company events, not because it\u2019s an expected function but because they really care about the quality of working relationships and work-life balance. The company\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/human-resources\/leadership-development\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">leadership<\/a> has created <em>a culture<\/em> that makes each individual feel valued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ultimately, leadership is not just about words, it\u2019s not just about action. It\u2019s about building a culture. Unfortunately, many people who start a business lack the skill to scale their personal success into a company culture for success.<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Especially with today\u2019s shortage of qualified workers, building a culture that listens, inspires, and truly values each and every individual is important\u2014unless you want people to depart for a few bucks. I\u2019ve heard of construction companies doing some crazy things to recruit people. To <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/human-resources\/performance-management\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">keep your best employees<\/a>, your leaders need to focus on building a culture where people feel that their work and creativity actually make a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now is the time to lead.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Subscribe to our Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Get our latest business advice delivered directly to your inbox.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-ab515c6e-7e90-4c2f-a67e-113872516e8b\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Subscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"Working from home with tea in hand\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I learned early on in my business management career not to confuse management with leadership. Yes, leaders need to possess strong management skills, but true leaders go a step beyond overseeing activities and people. The fact is the world is full of good managers, but it\u2019s light on good leaders. What are the characteristics of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":1269,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,178,138],"business_type":[],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[50,411],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[246],"coauthors":[631],"class_list":["post-814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people-leadership","tag-construction","tag-construction-hiring-retention","tag-leadership","industry-construction-and-real-estate","industry-human-resources"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-us","author_name":"Jon Witty","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/05\/faucets-2438.jpg","imagine_tags":{"246":"Construction"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice US","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/86"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/1269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=814"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=814"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=814"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=814"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=814"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=814"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=814"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}