Leadership and Management of Details

Building a great contracting business requires the right balance of leadership and management.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
D. Brown Management
August 17, 2018 2 minute read
discipline leadership management wisdom
Share

“Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.” - Peter Drucker

This quote or a variation often gets used to describe the difference between strategy and tactics; leadership and management.

Quote: The man in charge must concern himself with details. If he does not consider them important, neither will his subordinates. Yet the devil is in the details... Hyman G. Rickover

While it is possible to separate them the truth is that many of the top leaders are relentlessly disciplined managers.  Think:

Admiral Hyman G. Rickover who is considered the “Father of the Nuclear Navy” was a relentless and disciplined manager.  He oversaw every detail of building out then operating a nuclear submarine fleet with a record of zero reactor accidents.  

Contractors have to put together many thousands of parts coming from hundreds of suppliers and subcontractors across dozens of projects each year operating on very thin margins with tight cash flow and major safety risks.  

Disciplined management is a key to sustainable growth.

Improve your management processes

Using a Vision to Create Desire and Context for Tasks
There is a whole lot of work involved in building projects and building a construction company. It is easy to get mired down in endless to-do lists, processes, and problems. The thing that holds this all together and accelerates performance is the vision.
Related Article
We Are Americans
We are Americans. This is the first thing we must focus on as we lead through the many challenges we will face individually, as families, as businesses, and as communities coping with COVID-19 and the very likely financial fall-out that will follow.
Related Article
Average is Rare and Rarely Valuable
Study the differences between the varying levels of performance and work to close those gaps. Seeing how the average is trending can be very valuable to visualizing the trajectory, and that goes for every element on a Contractor's Scoreboard.
Related Article