What’s on your music playlist right now?
Currently, my morning information is NPR’s “Up First” or the “How I Built This” podcast. For general listening, I trend toward alternative, notably Kings of Leon, Silversun Pickups, The Head and the Heart, etc. For training runs/rides, upbeat Spotify playlists, like Tool or Orange Theory Power Day.
What, to you, is the most important cog in the construction “machine”?
I probably overuse the word “team” but, to me, it matters most. The right team always makes the difference. When we are successful, teams have fun and want to repeat the experience.
How do you contend with challenges on a project?
In the construction industry, challenges often seem very complex at first. I’ve found that when you take the time to break the complexity down into components with the right subject matter experts at the table, every challenge can be overcome. In the end, although we deal with bricks and mortar, it is a people-based industry. If you have the right people on your team and you deal with all parties fairly, things usually work out.
What is your favorite day of the year (and why)?
While not a specific day, I love the period between Christmas and New Years as it usually includes a longer break with family to unplug and focus on what matters.
What is the best advice you ever got?
- Don’t focus on the promotion or “what’s next.”
- Do the best you can do in any given opportunity and good things will invariably happen.
- Create a following. If you treat people fairly, those same people want to work with or around you the rest of your career.
What are the top qualities you look for in a new hire?
We used The Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni to change our hiring practices at JE Dunn. The attributes we look for are hungry, humble and smart (emotional intelligence).
Do you have any pets?
We are an animal-loving family, and it is becoming a problem.
- Kane(African Mastiff, 10)
- Killer (Shorkie, 11)
- Scout (Yorkie, 7)
- Ribbon(Fat Cat, 10)
- Aska(Great Dane, 11), passed away last year
